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The winter has been long. But as the new cars returned to track for the first competitive race of the 2019 Formula 1 season before the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, Mercedes world champion Lewis Hamilton took the best start, at the head of free practice 1 in Melbourne. – Although his main rival last year, Sebastian Vettel was only 0.038 seconds behind Ferrari.
When we finally got a glimpse of the competitive order of 2019, it seemed like there was little choice between Mercedes and Ferrari, Hamilton, Vettel and the third in the standings, Charles Leclerc, separated by a point barely 0.074s, while Red Bull would have been encouraged. Max Verstappen has only 0.193s late on the ultimate pace, while the team is tuning in with his new Honda power units for 2019.
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Valtteri Bottas finished fifth for Mercedes, while Kimi Raikkonen showed his new Alfa Romeo C38 was fast, while the Finn was leading the midfielder in sixth place at 1.217 in Hamilton's time. Daniil Kvyat, of Toro Rosso, revealed the pace of 7th place in STR14, derived from Red Bull, and headed at the head of Pierre Gasly's Red Bull, who declared before FP1 that he was still trying to comfortable with his new RB15.
Nico Hulkenberg had to wait more than an hour to qualify, his Renault R.S.19 having electrical problems that kept him in the pits after his tour of installation. The German finished the session in 10th position, behind Kevin Magnussen's Haas, but seven places ahead of his new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, P17.
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Albert Park is a tough circuit for beginners – and in his very first FP1 session, Toro Rosso's Alexander Albon was caught off guard by the challenges of the circuit, losing his Toro Rosso in Turn 1 and slipping into the wall when turning 2, before the car turns and tears off its front fender. The incident highlighted the only red flag of the session, although Albon was able to bring the wingless car back to the pits on his own. The Thai driver will now seek to regain his confidence for the second day of the second day …
At the bottom of the timesheets, Williams drivers Robert Kubica and George Russell seemed to confirm the suspicion that their FW42 would be the slowest car in the pack, with the pair finishing respectively P19 and P20, Kubica's best time for his first race. released in competition from Abu Dhabi. 2010 at about two seconds from the next slowest runner and more than four seconds from the ultimate pace.
So first blood Mercedes, but Ferrari at the tail …
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