The British pilot Lando Norris (McLaren) led this Friday the first free practice sessions of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, ahead of the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
In his best lap, Norris set a time of one minute, 18 seconds and 564 thousandths, with soft tires ahead of Verstappen, the three-time world champion and championship leader, who was 18 thousandths behind the leader. The British George Russell (Mercedes) stopped the clock in third place 33 thousandths behind Norris in the race, interrupted for about ten minutes by a red flag towards the end due to an accident by the Anglo-Thai driver Alexander Albon (Williams), who stepped on the curb and hit the wall in turn eight.
The Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), runner-up last year, achieved sixth place, finishing 78 thousandths behind Norris, while the Spanish Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), who missed the recent Saudi Arabia GP due to appendicitis, placed in eighth place 122 thousandths of the leader. The two-time Spanish world champion Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), who had to change the floor of his car after leaving the gravel on the track, set a best time of one minute, 19 seconds and 716 thousandths, finishing in eighteenth place.
The second free practice at Albert Park, a 5,278 meter track with 14 corners – five of them on the left – will take place on Saturday before the race to be held on Sunday.
With 22 races, this is the longest Formula 1 World Championship in historywhich has provoked criticism from world champions such as Verstappen, Alonso and the Englishman Lewis Hamilton, who has seven world trophies in his cabinet.
2024-03-22 04:42:19
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