EL1 in Melbourne: Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull in one handkerchief

If the ranking of Free Practice 1 of the Australian Grand Prix presages the rest of the season, we are happy to sign. After weeks of preparation, the 20 players in the world championship of Formula 1 finally took to the track as part of an official competition weekend.

At the end of the 90 minutes of initial driving, Hamilton is at the top of the ranking with a time of 1'23''599 signed with the soft red C4 compound. This is already four tenths faster than his benchmark from the 1 Australian EL2018 (1'24''026).

The pilot Mercedes ahead of them Ferrari SF90 Sebastian Vettel et Charles Leclerc of respectively 38 and 74 thousandths. Red Bull and its new Honda engine are not left out since Max Verstappen places the best RB15 in 4th place, 0'193 behind Hamilton's benchmark.

Valtteri Bottas finished 5th in the second W10 and had a little scare at the end of the session with a spin, fortunately not serious. Winner in Melbourne in 2007 and 2013, Kimi Räikkönen proves that he is still green with the 6th mark at the wheel of his Alfa C38. 

The Finn precedes a surprising Daniil Kvyat on the best Toro Rosso STR14, while Pierre Gasly must be satisfied with the 8th fastest time aboard the second Red Bull RB15, ahead of the Haas VF-19 Kevin Magnussen.

Despite an electronic problem detected during its first round of installation, Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) completes the Top 10 after managing to get back on the track 15 minutes from the checkerboard. 

For his first appearance in yellow on a Grand Prix weekend, his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo finished only 16th in a session briefly interrupted by a red flag waved following an exit from the trackAlexander albon (Toro Rosso). In the French clan, Romain Grosjean (Haas) is in 12th position. 

The last third of the EL1 standings is occupied by Racing Point, McLaren, and Williams. The Grove team, which had to modify its FW42 just before the start of the season, saw its drivers Robert Kubica and George Russell relegated to more than four and five seconds respectively. 

Hamilton and Vettel separated by just 0.038s 

Our first 90 minutes of fun in 2019 are in the book! Full classification #AusGP  #F1 pic.twitter.com/AXG8OjDvkn

- Formula 1 (@ F1) March 15, 2019

Will the second free practice session for the 2019 Australian Grand Prix confirm these initial trends? Response from 16:00 p.m. local time, i.e. 06:00 a.m. in France.