Australian GP: Charles Leclerc claims Mercedes are finally showing their hand after 'very impressive' Friday in Melbourne
Mercedes' pace caught Charles Leclerc's eye despite McLaren's Oscar Piastri finishing the first Friday of the new F1 season fastest; watch Australian Grand Prix qualifying at 5am on Saturday and the first race of the season at 4am on Sunday live on Sky Sports F1
Friday 6 March 2026 16:50, UK
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc believes Mercedes showed a first glimpse of the "very impressive" pace in Australian Grand Prix practice that has led many to install the Silver Arrows as 2026's title favourites.
Leclerc's observation at the end of the season's first day on track in Melbourne was made despite Mercedes not topping either of Friday's two practice sessions.
It was the Monegasque himself who set the pace from team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a Ferrari one-two in the first hour of running at Albert Park, before McLaren's Oscar Piastri beat the Mercedes drivers to the quickest time of the second session.
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However, Leclerc, who slipped to fifth place in second practice just behind Hamilton, said that while it had still been a productive opening day for Ferrari, Mercedes' race-run speed had stood out.
"FP1 looked positive but then FP2 I think the teams are showing little by little a bit more and, unfortunately, we seem to be on the back foot especially compared to Mercedes, that seems to be very, very strong," said Leclerc in his post-session TV interview.
"I don't think that they showed everything in low fuel but on high fuel it was very impressive. It's the first time probably that we see how much there is to them and it's a bit more than what I would have liked, but it's the way it is.
"Then, on the other side, it's been quite a positive start to the weekend and we'll keep working very hard in order to try and maximise everything for tomorrow."
Most observers had placed Ferrari after pre-season testing in Bahrain as the nearest challengers to Mercedes in the pecking order heading to Melbourne.
The Scuderia's SF-26 duly appeared to show it was in good shape on Friday, with Hamilton also encouraged by the team's early pace.
In quotes via Ferrari's end-of-day press release, Hamilton said: "It's been a really good day. It's great to be back on track and properly get going.
"It was challenging at times on track, but we maximised our laps and executed to the best of our ability, getting some good information. Lots of work to do but I'm looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow."
Russell and Norris not fully satisfied with first Friday of F1 season
Pre-season title favourite George Russell was third fastest in second practice behind pace-setter Piastri and Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli.
It was Mercedes' long run pace caught the eye of their rivals at the end of the day which Sky Sports F1's Martin Brundle remarked as "blindingly fast".
Russell though says Mercedes will "have to take another step overnight" to be in the fight for pole position when qualifying takes place on Saturday at 5am UK time.
"We didn't have the smoothest first Friday of the season. FP1 was a tough session where we were struggling to optimise our battery harvesting and deployment," he said.
"That demanded most of our attention and we therefore couldn't get stuck into our set-up work until much later in the hour. When we did, the car had a lot of understeer, and we also didn't have the time to put together a long run.
"Thankfully, we made a positive step for FP2 and had a much better session. The car felt more put together and we completed a good amount of single lap and long run work. That puts us in a decent position for the rest of the weekend."
Reigning world champion Lando Norris was over one second slower than Piastri in second practice and is on the back foot after reliability issues in the first session left him playing catch up.
Norris therefore faces an uphill battle to repeat his season-opener triumph from 12 months ago, admitting he's "a little bit behind".
"With these new regulations, time in the car is very important, so we've got a bit of work to do this evening to recover," he added.
"We've got some good bits of data to go over from the second half of FP2, and there's plenty we can learn from what our competitors have been doing. We'll work hard tonight and try to close that gap before we get back in the car for FP3 tomorrow."
Verstappen: Red Bull working to get set-up right
Max Verstappen also had trouble on Friday after stopping at the end of the pit lane during second practice, which saw him spend half of the session in the garage.
Verstappen ran wide at Turn 10 during his race simulation with the car momentarily jumping in the air as he bounced over the gravel at high speed.
The Dutchman was 0.637s behind Piastri, with Red Bull seemingly the slowest of the big four teams heading into Saturday.
"We are working on getting the set-up right with the car and were struggling a bit with grip and also went into the gravel," said Verstappen.
"We didn't have a full day of clean running but, pace-wise, we are where I expected us to be. There is still a lot of work to do and we will analyse what worked and what we can improve on overnight and that is the reality at the moment."
Sky Sports F1's Australian GP schedule
Saturday March 7
0.10am: F3 Sprint*
1.10am: Australian GP Practice Three (session starts at 1.30am)*
3.05am: F2 Sprint*
4.10am: Australian GP Qualifying build-up*
5am: AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING*
7am: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*
9.45pm: F3 Feature Race*
Sunday March 8
12.20am: F2 Feature Race*
2.30am: Australian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
4am: THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX*
6am: Australian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
7am: Ted's Notebook*
7.55am: Australian GP race replay*
10am: Australian GP highlights (also on Sky One)*
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
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