Everything that happened in Australian GP FP1

Max Verstappen led Lewis Hamilton in a fraught opening practice session at Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix.

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Key moments:

> Verstappen fastest, spins late on

> Hamilton beats Perez to P2 with late soft run

> GPS issues red flag FP1 for 10 minutes

> Late Sargeant stoppage ends FP1 early

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Championship leader Verstappen topped FP1 on the soft tyres with a 1m18.790s – just under a second adrift of Charles Leclerc’s 2022 pole position time at Albert Park.

And he survived a big moment with six minutes of the session remaining when he spun his RB19 on the kerbs at the Turn 4 left-hander.

Max Verstappen runs off at the exit of Turn 4 👀

It's been a challenging opening practice session across the grid! 😲#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/o0iOHU0UoU

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 31, 2023

His Red Bull team-mate Perez also had a lairy moment as he ran wide onto the grass at the Turn 3 right-hander while on his soft-tyre run.

This left his fastest effort on the mediums – 0.503s adrift of Verstappen – as his best time and allowed Lewis Hamilton to jump him for second place with a late soft-tyre run of his own for Mercedes.

Hamilton set that lap after FP1 had to be red flagged for 10 minutes due to GPS issues.

Just over 10 minutes after the session resumed it was red flagged again and ended prematurely when Logan Sargeant’s Williams ground to a halt on the exit of the high-speed Turns 11/12.

🚩 RED FLAG 🚩

Logan Sargeant loses power and parks his car

The session will not be resumed #AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/Ap0CdsVsf2

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 31, 2023

Fernando Alonso was fourth for Aston Martin, 0.527s slower than Verstappen on the soft tyres.

Ferrari drivers Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completed the top six, with 2022 race winner Leclerc 0.061s slower than Alonso.

Lando Norris – he and his McLaren team without a point in the first two races of 2023 – was one of only a handful of drivers to set a lap after the initial red flag as he went sixth quickest, just 0.031s adrift of Sainz.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was eighth ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell and the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, who rounded out the top 10.

Gasly’s former team-mate Yuki Tsunoda narrowly avoided hitting the barriers when he spun across the grass on the exit of Turn 1. He ended up 17th after missing the second half of that session with damage to his car.

Kevin Magnussen was slowest of all after an error-strewn session which included off-track moments at Turn 3 and Turn 10.

Practice 1 Results