Ferrari and McLaren more or less impose a formidable pace together, unlike other rivals, at the start of the Formula 1 World Championship.
Lando Norris set the fastest time in the first free practice session of the Australian Grand Prix with McLaren, while Charles Leclerc came out ahead of everyone at the end of the day with the best performance in the second session.
The Ferrari driver clocked a time of 1.16.439, which then left room for testing the pace of the race in the final 15 minutes. Leclerc is 124 thousandths ahead of local hero Piastri and 141 thousandths ahead of reigning vice-champion Norris.
On his Ferrari debut, Lewis Hamilton finished fifth, 420 thousandths behind his teammate. The World Championship begins with the handbrake up for Red Bull and Mercedes.
Only seventh place for Max Verstappen with 624 thousandths separating him from Leclerc. As for Mercedes, George Russell ( +0.843 ) did not go beyond tenth place in the standings ahead of former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz ( +0.863 ), while for his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli only 16th place.
Ferrari is very close to McLaren in terms of race pace, Mercedes and especially Red Bull are also struggling in this mode, but for the first Grand Prix of the year there will probably also be weather to contend with, as it is expected to deteriorate, as there could be rain on the key day of the weekend that starts the 76th season of the World Championship.
Sauber and Aston Martin managed to force their way into the top ten with Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll, who set the eighth and ninth fastest times respectively in the second round of testing. (A2 Televizion)
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