Verstappen spins but goes quickest as GPS fault causes red flag

Championship leader Max Verstappen was quickest in a frantic and incident filled first practice session for the Australian Grand Prix despite a late spin.

The Red Bull driver went quickest by four tenths of a second over Lewis Hamilton and the second Red Bull off Sergio Perez. Verstappen’s final flying lap saw him spin at the exit of turn four, briefly facing backwards off the track, but he was able to continue.

Sunny skies over Melbourne greeted drivers as they ventured out around Albert Park for the first time in the weekend, with relatively mild temperatures of 18C ambient and track temperature at 31C. With the threat of rain for the day’s second practice session, drivers were quick to head out and make the most of the opening hour.

In the early minutes, Red Bull set the early pace with Perez posting a 1’20.267, a full second ahead of team mate Verstappen. Hamilton went second fastest for Mercedes, less than half a tenth behind Perez, before Verstappen went comfortably fastest with a 1’19.332 on soft tyres.

There were many complaints of porpoising through the field early in the session, with Mercedes’ Hamilton, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Williams’ Logan Sargeant all reporting bouncing along the straights in their cars. Not unusually, Verstappen was unhappy with the quality of the gear shifts on his Red Bull, while Kevin Magnussen brought out the first yellow flag of the weekend by running wide at turn three and taking to the gravel.

After the initial runs, the track fell quiet as cars returned to the garage. The two Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr moved into third and fourth, half a second behind the Red Bulls.

As the session reached the midway point, teams began sending their drivers out on soft tyres. Yuki Tsunoda suffered a high-speed spin at the first corner, bouncing over the gravel on the exit of the corner, but avoiding making contact with the barriers. Perez’s first flying lap on the softs was ruined by a mistake on the exit of turn four, causing him to back off.

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With many drivers out on the circuit, traffic became a concern for the teams. However, this became significantly harder when the Global Positioning System used to track cars around the circuit failed, leaving teams unable to advise drivers on the cars around them. There was a large traffic jam on the exit of the turn nine and ten chicane, while Zhou Guanyu and Nico Hulkenberg both had to take avoiding action at the turn 13 hairpin to avoid collecting other cars.

The session was red-flagged while the GPS problem was addressed. After a delay of ten minutes, the session resumed with just under 15 minutes remaining. The track quickly filled once more, with Verstappen taking to the track on soft tyres for the first time. On his next attempt on the soft tyres, Verstappen ran wide at turn four, losing control over the exit kerb and spinning his Red Bull. He recovered back to the track, but his soft rubber was ruined and he had to abandon his run.

In the final five minutes, Sargeant reported a sudden loss of power in his Williams. He pulled off the track on the exit of turn 11, which brought out the second red flag of the hour. With only a handful of minutes remaining, the session was not restarted, leaving Verstappen on top of the times despite his spin.

Just before the red flag, Hamilton moved into second place between the two Red Bull drivers, four tenths slower than Verstappen’s best. Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest for Aston Martin ahead of the two Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz.

Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren, with Pierre Gasly and George Russell behind. Lance Stroll completed the top ten for Aston Martin.

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2023 Australian Grand Prix first practice result

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap	Laps
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	RB19	1’18.790		17
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W14	1’19.223	0.433	20
3	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	RB19	1’19.293	0.503	19
4	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’19.317	0.527	23
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-23	1’19.378	0.588	16
6	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-23	1’19.505	0.715	20
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’19.536	0.746	16
8	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’19.646	0.856	22
9	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W14	1’19.699	0.909	23
10	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR23	1’19.766	0.976	19
11	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW45	1’19.766	0.976	21
12	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL60	1’19.777	0.987	22
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’19.806	1.016	19
14	21	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	AT04	1’19.933	1.143	25
15	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams-Mercedes	FW45	1’20.074	1.284	21
16	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	A523	1’20.175	1.385	20
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Red Bull	AT04	1’20.399	1.609	14
18	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’20.419	1.629	21
19	24	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	C43	1’20.569	1.779	22
20	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-23	1’21.147	2.357	17

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