Formula 1: Liam Lawson solid, but beaten by new teammate as season begins with Melbourne practice

By Alex Powell in Melbourne

Liam Lawson has been solid, but not spectacular on the opening day of the 2026 Formula One season in Melbourne.

The Kiwi came away with two 13th-placed finishes in the weekend’s first practice sessions, putting in 57 laps as all 22 drivers came to grips with cars constructed under new regulations for the first time.

Lawson got through his day’s work without any major issues, but his Racing Bulls team were given a scare when rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad suffered a problem with his power unit in the day’s first session (FP1).

The teenager also had a hairy moment when he made contact with the front wing of George Russell’s Mercedes, leaving the pit lane.

However, while Lawson set a best time of 1m 21.358s, he was 1.629s off McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in the day’s second session (FP2) as the Australian posted the fastest time of the day – 1m 19.729s.

Lawson was, though, able to shave 1.255s off his time from FP1 to FP2, as a sign of improvement across the day.

Potentially making matters worse, Lawson was bested twice by Lindblad, who is having his first taste of a Formula One weekend after his promotion at the end of 2025. The 18-year-old finished 1.3s ahead of the Kiwi for fifth in FP1 and was eighth in FP2.

Hometown hero Piastri’s display at the Albert Park Circuit was in contrast to his teammate, world champion Lando Norris, who finished seventh in FP2, 1.065s back. Norris was 19th in FP1, more than four seconds off the pace.

Expected to shine with their new Mercedes power unit, Kimi Antonelli finished second and Russell third, 0.214s and 0.320s back from Piastri respectively.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was sixth in FP2, 0.637s off the leader, while Lindblad’s display in FP2 put him ahead of newly promoted Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar by 0.019s.

FP2 tends to be the most representative practice session for qualifying, given the similarities between time on track 24 hours later.

The 11 teams will get one more session of practice (FP3), beginning at 2.30pm on Saturday (NZT), before qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix.

However, teams will likely use FP3 as a chance to simulate race runs, with most drivers only using soft and medium tyres on the first day.

Earlier, in FP1, Lawson was 2.346s off the pace in a mixed session for Racing Bulls and got through 28 laps.

As a sign that teams don’t always go for the best times, Lawson’s quickest lap came on medium tyres as opposed to the faster softs.

Both Ferrari cars were quickest in FP1. Charles Leclerc set the fastest time with a 1m 20.267s, while Lewis Hamilton was 0.469s back. The two Red Bulls were third and fourth, with Verstappen 0.522s behind Leclerc, and Hadjar 0.820s back.

At the back of the field, Aston Martin and newcomers Cadillac suffered problems on day one. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was unable to take part in FP1 because of issues with his engine, while Cadillac’s Sergio Perez had to sit out of FP2, thanks to a sensor issue on his car.

Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix begins at 6pm Saturday (NZT), with the race at 5pm on Sunday.

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.