March 18, 2016 – Formula 1 officially returned today with Lewis Hamilton topping the times in a rain-interrupted first free practice for the Australian Grand Prix. The reigning world champion clocked a 1:29.725 for Mercedes, 0.421 seconds quicker than Red Bull’s Danill Kvyat with Daniel Ricciardo seven tenths adrift in third.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m29.725s | – | 14 |
| 2 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/TAG Heuer | 1m30.146s | 0.421s | 14 |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/TAG Heuer | 1m30.875s | 1.150s | 13 |
| 4 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m31.325s | 1.600s | 8 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1m31.720s | 1.995s | 14 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m31.814s | 2.089s | 11 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 1m33.060s | 3.335s | 11 |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m33.129s | 3.404s | 16 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m33.370s | 3.645s | 6 |
| 10 | Kevin Magnussen | Renault | 1m34.060s | 4.335s | 13 |
| 11 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m34.550s | 4.825s | 6 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m34.679s | 4.954s | 6 |
| 13 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m34.796s | 5.071s | 7 |
| 14 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 1m35.477s | 5.752s | 12 |
| 15 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m37.956s | 8.231s | 6 |
| 16 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor/Mercedes | 1m40.401s | 10.676s | 6 |
| 17 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m40.754s | 11.029s | 10 |
| 18 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas/Ferrari | 1m41.780s | 12.055s | 8 |
| 19 | Rio Haryanto | Manor/Mercedes | 1m43.372s | 13.647s | 7 |
| 20 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m43.443s | 13.718s | 6 |
| 21 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | – | – | 8 |
| 22 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | – | – | 3 |
