The first real day of the 2025 F1 season has already thrown up surprises compared to testing. The competitive tension has only increased after the first practice sessions, and the question is who’s really fastest in Australia?

The bigger picture

Ferrari leads but the bigger picture is still unclear as we a number of drivers who struggled to improve their times after switching from medium to soft tires, leaving several teams out of position in the final standings. Mercedes and Red Bull were nowhere near their expected pace, which allowed Ferrari, McLaren, and surprisingly Racing Bulls to top the timesheets.

Charles Leclerc was the fastest in both the medium and soft tire runs, signaling a positive day for Ferrari. This could also validate Lando Norris’ prediction from Thursday, where he suggested that Ferrari might have made a significant leap forward based on their fuel load during testing.

“The feeling in the car was good and we had a solid first day on track”, commented Leclerc. “There is still some margin for improvement in terms of the balance, which is the same for everyone across the paddock, given that these cars are still pretty new to all of us and we have to push to understand their limits. It’s too early to come to any conclusions.   “It’s been a learning day as I continue to understand and get to grips with the new car”, commented Hamilton. “Everything is so completely different from what I’ve been used to for so long, but that’s the challenge, and I’m embracing it. We were not completely satisfied with FP1, but we made some good progress in FP2 and got some solid longer runs in, which was important. There’s still balance work to do overnight, and we’re missing a bit of pace, but that’s expected”.

McLaren’s performance was strong, with both Norris and Oscar Piastri separated by just 0.017 seconds in FP2. However, the real question is how much faster McLaren can go in qualifying when every team pushes their cars to the limit in slightly different conditions. The long-run data suggests McLaren still holds a crucial advantage in race pace.
“A decent first day back in the car.”, commented Lando, “good feelings, all in all. We’re struggling a lot with the balance, so we need to make a few changes to get it into a better place, but a good start to the weekend for us as a team. A good baseline, but a lot to improve on”. Piastri added:  “We’ve tried a few different things and gathered some good information, the car feels different to last year but that’s pretty normal. I am excited to see what we can do tomorrow – it’s been a pretty positive first day.”

Mercedes, on the other hand, struggled. George Russell’s session was not very smooth. Russell’s teammate, Kimi Antonelli, also had an off-day, ending his first full practice session four-tenths slower than Russell.

“We’ve got work to do on improving our single-lap performance on the soft tire ahead of qualifying,” said Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin. “We have some areas of focus and are confident we can make progress overnight.”

Red Bull Faces Challenges

Max Verstappen came into Australia without high expectations of fighting for the win, and his performance on Friday only reinforced that view. His car was tricky to drive all day, and he was particularly unimpressed after FP2. He aborted his first qualifying simulation after losing grip early in the lap.  “The grip wasn’t great, and we were struggling with all four tires, especially in sector one and the final sector,” Verstappen explained. “It feels like we’re not up there at the moment, but we’ll work to find more pace.”.

Is McLaren the car to beat?

From trackside observations, McLaren looks strong. The car has an agile front end, rotates well, and allows the drivers to get on the throttle efficiently. Lando Norris’ run through the gravel exiting Turn 12 was the only noticeable mistake in an otherwise solid performance.

Ferrari’s car, especially in the hands of Leclerc, was equally impressive but still showed occasional moments of instability. Verstappen, meanwhile, seemed more comfortable in the faster corners than in the slower ones, suggesting Red Bull might have some work to do on car balance.

Sauber also made impressive strides, showing more balance and competitiveness compared to its performance in testing. On the flip side, Aston Martin continues to struggle with mid-corner grip issues, while Racing Bulls appears more balanced and refined.

Tough day for Williams and Alpine

The midfield results on Friday threw up a few surprises. Racing Bulls, while still behind the top two teams, had both cars in the top six and were faster than both Red Bull and Mercedes. Although it’s likely that the strange soft tire performance in FP2 influenced these results, Racing Bulls appears to have made significant strides since the final day of testing.

On the other hand, Williams and Alpine, both strong performers in testing, had a rough day. Williams had been fast in FP1, with Carlos Sainz second and Alex Albon in sixth, but struggled when the soft tires came into play. Team principal James Vowles reassured that the early practice times were not an accurate representation of the team’s capabilities, but the car’s pace on soft tires and overall performance left something to be desired.

Alpine, expected to be strong in the midfield, had an underwhelming performance. Pierre Gasly mentioned a potential brake issue in FP2, and both cars were off the pace, trailing only Haas. However, they were quick in sector two, suggesting that the team might need to adjust their wing settings for Saturday’s session.

Photos: courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari