Lewis Hamilton set the pace for Mercedes in the rain-hit first practice session for the 2016 season opener in Australia.
Wet weather overnight meant conditions were damp for the start of the session. The track dried out, but rain showers returned later in FP1.
Hamilton put in a 1:29.725 in the closing stages on dry tyres, before more wet weather arrived, to go quickest. Daniil Kvyat was second for Red Bull, four tenths further back.
Daniel Ricciardo ended the session third in the second RB12, despite beaching his car in the gravel at Turn 12 with one minute left on the clock. Nico Hulkenberg and Max Verstappen completed the top five.
Nico Rosberg was sixth, with Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Sergio Perez – despite stopping in the pits early on – and Kevin Magnussen next up. Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were 11th and 12th for Williams.
Felipe Nasr, Jolyon Palmer, Marcus Ericsson, Pascal Wehrlein and Kimi Raikkonen, who suffered a late off-track excursion – were next on the leaderboard. Esteban Gutierrez was the lead Haas F1 car in 18th, with Rio Haryanto and Romain Grosjean 19th and 20th.
Despite venturing out on track for some running in FP1, Sebastian Vettel failed to set a timed lap and was 21st. Carlos Sainz Jr suffered a problem mid-way through the session and also did not put in a time.
Australia – Practice 1 Result:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:29.725 | 14 | |
| 2 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:30.146 | 0.421 | 14 |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:30.875 | 1.150 | 13 |
| 4 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:31.325 | 1.600 | 8 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:31.720 | 1.995 | 14 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:31.814 | 2.089 | 11 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1:33.060 | 3.335 | 11 |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1:33.129 | 3.404 | 16 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:33.370 | 3.645 | 6 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1:34.060 | 4.335 | 13 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:34.550 | 4.825 | 6 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:34.679 | 4.954 | 6 |
| 13 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:34.796 | 5.071 | 7 |
| 14 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1:35.477 | 5.752 | 12 |
| 15 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:37.956 | 8.231 | 6 |
| 16 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor-Mercedes | 1:40.401 | 10.676 | 6 |
| 17 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:40.754 | 11.029 | 10 |
| 18 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas-Ferrari | 1:41.780 | 12.055 | 8 |
| 19 | Rio Haryanto | Manor-Mercedes | 1:43.372 | 13.647 | 7 |
| 20 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1:43.443 | 13.718 | 6 |
| 21 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 8 | ||
| 22 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 3 |