Size of Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari task among five key lessons at F1 Australian GP

After months of talking, the first day of competitive on-track running in F1 2025 finally got underway at the Australian Grand Prix. 

The opening pair of all-important track sessions for the new season provided a first proper look at the pecking order, and gave some crucial early indications into how the drivers and teams are feeling.

Here are the main things we learned from Friday’s track action in Melbourne.

McLaren may not run away with it

After a strong pre-season showing, McLaren were tipped as the clear favourites heading to Australia by both pundits and rival teams.

Following the first day of running around the Albert Park circuit, there is still reason to suggest McLaren are the team to beat, however they may not be as dominant as some initially feared.

Ferrari set the quickest outright lap during the soft tyre qualifying simulations in FP2, with Charles Leclerc just 0.124 seconds ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who admitted that he was not entirely happy with the performance of his MCL39 over one lap.

A crunching of the numbers from the - albeit limited - long run data points towards an encouragingly competitive field, with Friday’s practice times showing there could be little to separate McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

Qualifying, when every team’s true performance will be shown for the first time, promises to be fascinating, while Sunday’s grand prix could be wide open, especially if rain arrives as forecast. 

Scale of Lewis Hamilton’s challenge apparent   

Lewis Hamilton took on the biggest change of his career when he shocked the F1 world last February by announcing he would leave Mercedes after 12 years to join Ferrari.

In recent weeks, Hamilton has been revelling in the fanfare and excitement of a career move which represents a childhood dream for the seven-time world champion, but he was always aware of the task he was facing in adapting to a new team at 40 years old.

That challenge was underlined as Hamilton finally took to the track in Ferrari’s SF-25 car for the first time proper on Friday, finishing 12th-fastest in the opening practice session with a rather-alarming six-tenth gap to new teammate Leclerc. Hamilton improved to fifth in second practice but was still four-tenths adrift of Leclerc, who set the pace during the qualifying simulation runs.

Hamilton revealed he has spent the early part of the weekend adjusting his driving style to suit the requirements of his new Ferrari as he continues to explore the package and get up to speed.

He knows he has work to do to close the big deficit to Leclerc, regarded as many as one of - if not the - fastest driver on the grid over a single lap amid lingering doubts surrounding his recent F1 struggles, most notably in qualifying, following a difficult end to his illustrious Mercedes stint.

If Ferrari do indeed turn out to have the quickest car come qualifying in Melbourne, Hamilton will have no hiding place from the scrutiny of the gigantic spotlight that has hovered over him since he first stepped foot inside F1’s most iconic team.

A shaky start for Liam Lawson at Red Bull

Liam Lawson was promoted in place of Sergio Perez at Red Bull to provide Max Verstappen with closer competition and help the team get back into constructors’ championship contention, after slipping to third last term.

Perez’s woeful displays throughout 2024 were largely to blame for Red Bull’s failure to defend their world title, with Verstappen still able to clinch a fourth consecutive drivers’ crown despite facing increased competition from McLaren and Norris.

But it has been a shaky start for Lawson, who closed out Friday’s running 17th fastest of the 19 drivers who set lap times - and over half a second slower than Verstappen.

The 22-year-old Kiwi was only 16th in FP1 with a much larger gap to his four-time world champion teammate and confessed he was “just too slow” on his first outing for the Red Bull senior team.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was quick to leap to Lawson’s defence, citing this being his first experience of the Melbourne track, and stressing the need for patience in what he described as being “the toughest job in Formula 1”.

Carlos Sainz’s smooth Williams transition

For Carlos Sainz, things couldn’t have started much smoother on his first grand prix weekend with Williams.

The 30-year-old Spaniard has fitted seamlessly into the British squad after embedding himself into the team over the winter following his switch from Ferrari, having been forced to vacate his seat to Hamilton.

Sainz impressed by setting the second fastest time in the first session, before finishing 11th in second practice. In both FP1 and FP2, he was quicker than new teammate Alex Albon as Williams continued to catch the eye following an encouraging pre-season test in Bahrain.

Intriguingly, Sainz was also able to mix it close to the top teams during his high-fuel race simulations, giving Williams even more reason to be optimistic amid early indications their FW47 is a significant improvement on its predecessor.

Nightmare start for one F1 rookie

Oliver Bearman was left apologising to his Haas mechanics after suffering a heavy crash in opening practice when he slammed into the barriers having lost control at Turn 10.

The British rookie was forced to sit out of the second hour of running due to the damage sustained to his car, putting him on the back foot for the rest of the Australian Grand Prix weekend.

It marked the worst possible start for the 19-year-old who is entering his first full season after starring in three substitute appearances for Ferrari and Haas in 2024.

“I think just wanting a bit too much, too soon - which is kind of my approach, which isn't really the right one for F1,” Bearman admitted as he explained his high-speed shunt.

A baptism of fire for Bearman while his fellow, more inexperienced rookies, all enjoyed trouble-free and clean days.