Melbourne, FP1: Hamilton quickest in rain-hit opening practice

Unpredictable weather conditions led to a stop-start opening to the 2016 Formula One season, as Mercedes Lewis Hamilton navigated the hard-to-read conditions best to set the fastest time of FP1.

Hamilton’s lap of 1:29.725 came late in the session as the track dried following spells of rain and the field attempted to exploit the sunshine for final blasts on slick tyres.

Hamilton’s first lap in the improved conditions was a 1:30.364 that dislodged Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg from the top spot, moments after the German had bounced Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo from P1, a position the Australian had held for much of the rain-disrupted session.

Ricciardo responded with his own best time of the session, posting a time of 1:30.875 to take back second before team-mate Daniil Kvyat went quicker again to briefly jumped ahead of Hamilton. There was no denying the defending champion and just before rain began to fall again, Hamilton logged his best lap to eclipse Kvyat by 0.4s.

With rain falling at the end of the session many drivers were circling on slick tyres and the conditions caught out Ricciardo in the closing moments. He spun off and into the gravel traps at Turn 12 as the chequered flag came out.

The session began with a wet track following heavy overnight rain and showers throughout the morning, making conditions tricky and running patchy as drivers tested the track and the retreated to the garages to await more uniform conditions.

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were the first to set timed laps, with the German getting in first with a time of 1:44.037. Hamilton quickly upped the pace with a time of 1:40.812 to eclipse his team-mate by more than three seconds.

As the rains came and went more times began to come in but it wasn’t until the final spell of sunshine that the majority of drivers registered a timed lap. Just two drivers failed to do so – Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.

Four-time champion cycled through the pit lane eight times during the session but clearly judged there was little meaningful data to gather, while an early issue for Sainz meant he completed just three laps.

At the end of the session with Hamilton and the two Red Bulls in the top three places, fourth spot went to Hulkenberg, with Max Verstappen in fifth place, 1.9s behind the champion.

Rosberg ended the session in sixth, just over two seconds adrift of his team-mate, while seventh place went to McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. He was followed by team-mate Jenson Button and the final two top 10 places were filled by Sergio Pérez in the second Force India and Renault’s Kevin Magnussen.