Melbourne, Australia – Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton Running a Ferrari for the first time. The current Max Verstappen world champion arrived without much mileage on his Bull Red. Lando Norris Helping McLaren to establish a reference point with his rhythm in the tests.
Formula 1 expects a hypercompetitive milestone 75th anniversary season in 2025And start this weekend with The Australian Grand Prix. There is no shortage of unknowns in terms of hierarchical order and climate.
The majority of the headlines before the Australian Head doctor on Sunday have revolved around the transfer of Hamilton to Ferrari from Mercedes.
The press conference prior to the event normally relaxed in Albert Park was full of journalists and photographers on Thursday to know about a rejuvenated Hamilton about how much you are enjoying the horsepower.
The 40 -year -old British pilot is entering his 19th season at F1, but has had a different perspective since his first day at January at the Maranello de Scuderia headquarters, where he is a teammate with Charles Leclerc.
“I really don’t address this role with pressure,” Hamilton said. “I think that over the years, the pressure I press has always been 10 times greater than any other pressure that can be exerted on me. I have not joined this team and made me feel any pressure.
“I have an expectation for me, I know what I can bring. I know what I can deliver. And I know what he is going to take. “
Norris has been trying to minimize his long -term rhythm that impressed the paddock during the preseason tests in Bahrain last month and made McLaren a favorite of early season.
“I know there are high expectations,” Norris said. “It was just my unique career, I made that kind of making everyone believed this enough. It was a good career, but it was also in the most perfect conditions. “
Tried to moderate expectations saying McLaren Teammate Oscar Plastri It runs the next day “it was much slower.” “Not because it drove worse,” Norris explained, “but simply because the conditions on the last day were considerably slower.”
However, it cannot be denied that McLaren is confident in going to the opening race of the season, even if they are not very sure of their final rhythm.
“No one really knows what to expect,” said Piastri, who aims to become the first Australian to win the Australian F1 Grand Prix.
“The evidence went quite well, but you don’t know where they are all. I think we are quite happy with how our test was, but Melbourne is a completely different track for Bahrain. The weather will be different from Bahrain and different every hour, so it seems. “
Ferrari took the contest to the rival for a long time McLaren in the second practice when Leclerc closed the session at the top, just over a tenth of a second ahead of Piastri and Norris
Leclerc and Norris exchanged faster times during the afternoon race, with their rhythm witnessed by 125,548 people in the leafy Circuit of the Albert Park, a record crowd on Friday for the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton had a much stronger second session for Ferrari, with the seven -time world champion finishing fifth, just over the fourth tenth of the teammate Leclerc.
The second Red Bull team, Racing Bulls, shaded the main team, with Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar showing surprising speed to finish the session in the fourth and sixth.
The world champion Max Verstappen could not do better than the seventh, almost half a second in the second session. Haas’s rookie, Oliver Bearman, did not enter the second practice after his accident in the morning session.
The final practice will precede the qualification of Saturday, which begins at 4 pm local time (0500 GMT).
Piastri, born and raised in Melbourne, is correct. The city of southern Australia will deliver this weekend in the famous expression “Four Seasons in One Day” that often describes the always changing climate of Melbourne.
The Albert Park circuit should be comfortable for F1 opening practice sessions on Friday, with a partially cloudy day and a upper part of 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit). Temperatures are expected to increase to 37c (98f) on Saturday to qualify and then fall again for the race on Sunday, when there is also rain in the forecast.
A wet race would certainly mix things, with teams that need to guess in the configuration after two days of dry race.
However, Verstappen, whose Red Bull team did the slightest mileage in preseason tests, says it is prepared for any condition.
“I would like it to be dry because it is more pleasant (and) also for fans,” Verstappen said. “But if it is wet, it is wet. It is also fine. “
Piastri will not be the only Australian in Melbourne’s grid. Jack Doohan, the son of the five -time Mick Doohan motorcycle champion, is starting his first full season with Alpine, which seems to have taken a significant step on his rhythm of 2024.
Although the speculation through the preseason has been if Doohan will keep that seat, with his French team bringing the former Williams pilot Franco Colapint as a reserve.
“I have a contract for at least this year, if not,” said Doohan, who is One of the six rookies this seasonThe greatest amount in the F1 grid since 2001. “And the uncertainties? Don’t bother to worry about them. I think I have to do every time I am in the car. “
Ferrari said a 1-2 end in Melbourne last year led by Sainz, only two weeks after an appendectomy that left him aside in Saudi Arabia. But Sainz, 30, will probably fight for points and not podiums this time now that he is in Williams.
“I will definitely do everything possible to write down (points) as soon as possible,” said Sainz.
Ferrari is Australia’s most successful team with 14 victories in GP, which goes back to Adelaide in 1987. Hamilton is one of the five pilots in the current F1 network he has won in Melbourne, with his victories in 2008 and 2015.
The opening of Sunday’s season will be the 39th Australia Grand Prix of the World Championship and 28 in Melbourne. Start at 3 pm local time (0400 GMT).
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