Mercedes dominates first free practice session of Australian GP

The Mercedes team took the top two positions in the first free practice session of the Formula 1 Australian GP, the first of the season, with British driver Lewis Hamilton leading the way with a time of 1:24.220, followed by his teammate, Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, with 1:24.803.

After Bottas, Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull-TAG Heuer) set his best time at 1:24.886, followed by his teammate, Max Verstappen, with 1:25.246.

Mexican driver Sergio 'Checo' Perez, in his Force India, took tenth place below his former teammate Nico Hulkenberg, registering a time of 1:26.276.

Spanish drivers Carlos Sainz, from Toro Rosso-Renault, (1:26.450), and Fernando Alonso, from McLaren-Honda, (1:27.116), finished eleventh and fourteenth, respectively.

Alonso completed only 14 laps, while his teammate, Belgian driver Stoffel Vandoorne, completed two and finished in last position.

The Ferrari team achieved fifth and sixth positions, with Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen (1:25.372) and German driver Sebastian Vettel (1:25.464), more than a second behind Hamilton.