Piastri fastest on first day of season as Britain's Lindblad impresses

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His team principal Adrian Newey has laid bare Honda's problems in two extraordinary news conferences on consecutive days, on Friday explaining how the situation was affecting Alonso, and how their engine partner has found itself struggling so much.

Completing the top 10 was the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and Haas' Esteban Ocon, whose British team-mate Oliver Bearman was 11th.

The headline lap times may well not be a true reflection of outright pace as the top teams all did their laps at different times of the session - Mercedes running relatively early and Piastri late, when the track would have been faster.

On the race-simulation runs later in the session, Mercedes appeared to have a significant advantage over Ferrari, the only other top team to run on the same hard tyre.

However, Mercedes' programme allowed them to do many more laps.

Red Bull and McLaren ran on the medium and soft tyres on their race runs.

Norris' day was affected by gearbox problems that limited his running in the first session.

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World champion Lando Norris was in demand for selfies when the drivers arrived at the Albert Park circuit before first practice on Friday
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Racing Bulls' 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad (right) is the only rookie on the grid this year. He is set to become the youngest Briton to race in F1 on Sunday
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New Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar impressed in first practice but did go off on to the grass
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Cadillac are the first team to enter F1 since 2016, with Valtteri Bottas returning to the sport after being Mercedes' reserve driver last year
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Audi are a new name if not entirely a new team, having taken over Sauber. They are building their own engine for the first time though
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Plenty to ponder for Norris, who ended the first practice session 19th after problems with his McLaren
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The beleaguered Aston Martin team did get out on track in first practice, albeit very briefly. Lance Stroll managed three laps before an engine problem curtailed his session. Team-mate Fernando Alonso did not get out at all because of a power unit issue

Slide 1 of 7, Lando Norris poses for a selfie with fans before first practice for the Australian Grand Prix, World champion Lando Norris was in demand for selfies when the drivers arrived at the Albert Park circuit before first practice on Friday

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