Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc led a one-two Ferrari sweep in the first practice session Friday for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
Sainz completed the revamped Albert Park circuit in a time of 1 minute, 19.806 seconds, with Leclerc .571 second behind.
Red Bull drivers Sergio Perez and defending series champion Max Verstappen were third and fourth-fastest ahead of a second practice session later Friday. There will be another practice session on Saturday ahead of late afternoon qualifying for Sunday’s race.
Lewis Hamilton was seventh-fastest in his Mercedes and local hope Daniel Ricciardo was eighth in his McLaren.
Leclerc won the opening race of the season in Bahrain and Verstappen took the second in Saudi Arabia, both in March.
In a major renovation to the track, five corners were reprofiled at Albert Park and two were removed completely, meaning practice times were generally five seconds faster than in previous races.
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