Sawt Falasteen - Norris fastest in first Australian GP practice, Hamilton 12th

McLaren's Norris powered round the Albert Park circuit in fine weather with a best time of one minute 17.252 seconds on soft tyres ahead of Williams' Carlos Sainz in a session red-flagged twice.

The second incident saw Haas rookie Ollie Bearman smash into the barriers and lose his rear right wheel in an accident that left debris littering the track.

He climbed out uninjured and was heard on the radio saying: "I'm sorry."

Norris grabbed the lead from Sainz with barely a minute left, leaving Ferrari's Charles Leclerc third ahead of Norris's teammate Oscar Piastri.

Red Bull's Verstappen was fifth, 0.444 adrift, with Alex Albon in the other Williams sixth.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton cautioned this week that everything at Ferrari was different to his old team Mercedes and there could be a transition period while he settles in.

He appears to have his work cut out, ending 0.819 off the pace.

The Mercedes pair of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were seventh and 14th respectively.

Verstappen is chasing a second win in Australia after his 2023 victory to kickstart his bid for a fifth consecutive world title, a feat only Michael Schumacher has achieved.

He said on Thursday that Red Bull was "not the quickest at the moment", and his prediction came true.

His new rookie teammate Liam Lawson, who took over from the axed Sergio Perez, struggled, brushing the wall early in the session at Turn 9. He escaped any damage but could only finish 16th.

While Verstappen was crowned champion last year, he had a mid-season slump that put him in a surprise title scrap with Norris. McLaren overhauled Red Bull for the constructors' title.

Norris has been installed as the bookmakers' favourite to win the world title, and looked the part in Melbourne.

The biggest surprise was Sainz, who moved to Williams after being ousted by Hamilton at Ferrari, with the British team clearly making gains since last season.

On a perfect autumn day, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg was the first out but it was Norris who set the opening lap time of the year.

All the drivers started on medium tyres and Norris's early mark was quickly wiped out by Verstappen.

The times continued to tumble with Leclerc the first under 1:18.

Fifteen minutes in and it was Leclerc, Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton before the red flag came out with gravel on the track at Turn 6 after Alpine rookie Jack Doohan went wide.

Action resumed after a seven-minute delay and Verstappen stormed into the lead after changing to soft tyres.

But Sainz, who won the race last year with Ferrari, stunned the field with a 1:17.401 before Bearman's smash at the chicane between Turns 9 and 10.

The session resumed with 11 minutes left, and Norris stole Sainz's thunder in the dying stages.

P.AbuBaker--SF-PST