» Mercedes duo head FP1 in Australia

The Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team has claimed a predictable 1-2 in the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

Defending race-winner Nico Rosberg led the way, posting a 1:29.557 to edge out teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.029 seconds.

Valtteri Bottas led the ‘best of the rest’ charge in his Williams, almost 1.2 seconds slower, while Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz Jr was an impressive fourth-quickest in his first ever Grand Prix practice outing.

Aside from the two Toro Rosso rookies who managed 31 laps apiece – Verstappen was sixth-fastest, with the STR10s sandwiching Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari – the session saw little in the way of heavy running from anyone else, as is typical of an opening practice session when track conditions are at their worst.

Behind Verstappen, Felipe Massa was seventh-fastest in the second Williams ahead of former Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen in the second SF15-T. Pastor Maldonado was ninth-fastest in the Mercedes-powered Lotus E23, while crowd favourite Daniel Ricciardo was tenth-fastest in his Red Bull Racing RB11.

The Australian provided the only incident of note in the session – which was virtually devoid of yellow flags or major off-track moments – when he looped his car at the penultimate turn with about 30 minutes to go. He was able to continue and complete the session.

Ricciardo finished half-a-second quicker than his Russian teammate Daniil Kvyat, while the little-run Force Indias and well off-the-pace McLarens brought up the rear of those who actually set meaningful lap times. McLaren blamed problems with their Honda power units, with Jenson Button quicker at a full 4.9 seconds off the pace.

With the Manor Marussia entries still in pieces in the garage, the session’s other non-runners were court-threatened Sauber, who sent both Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr in full uniform to the garages, only to not send them out – presumably this is to avoid any perception of a contempt of court claim being made by the Appeal Court after its ruling that Giedo van der Garde has a valid contract to drive for the Swiss team.

Free Practice 2 gets underway at 4:30pm AEDST (GMT +11).

2015 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Results:

	Driver	Team / Entry	Time	Gap	Laps
1.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team F1W06	1:29.557		18
2.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team F1W06	1:29.586	+ 0.029	18
3.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW37	1:30.748	+ 1.191	20
4.	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR10	1:31.014	+ 1.457	31
5.	Sebastian Vettel	Scuderia Ferrari SF15-T	1:31.029	+ 1.472	13
6.	Max Verstappen	Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR10	1:31.067	+ 1.510	31
7.	Felipe Massa	Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW37	1:31.188	+ 1.631	19
8.	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari SF15-T	1:31.310	+ 1.753	14
9.	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1 Team Mercedes E23 Hybrid	1:31.451	+ 1.894	21
10.	Daniel Ricciardo	Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB11	1:31.570	+ 2.013	9
11.	Daniil Kvyat	Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB11	1:32.073	+ 2.516	18
12.	Sergio Pérez	Sahara Force India Mercedes VJM08	1:32.247	+ 2.690	22
13.	Nico Hülkenberg	Sahara Force India Mercedes VJM08	1:32.261	+ 2.704	19
14.	Jenson Button	McLaren Honda MP4-30	1:34.542	+ 4.985	6
15.	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren Honda MP4-30	1:34.785	+ 5.228	7
16.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1 Team Mercedes E23 Hybrid	2:17.782	+ 48.225	5
17.	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C34	no time		0
18.	Felipe Nasr	Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C34	no time		0
19.	Will Stevens	Marussia Manor F1 Team Ferrari MR03	no time		0
20.	Roberto Merhi	Marussia Manor F1 Team Ferrari MR03	no time		0