Analysis: What We Learned from FP1&2

The F1 is finally back! The first day of practice in Melbourne is behind us, which means that it's time to analyse what we've seen on Friday, and what implications this could have on this weekend's race. Let's jump in!

The Aussie has extra eyes on him this weekend as he's driving in front of his home fans, and he'll be hoping to make up for last year's dramatic performance, but he's gotten off to a rocky start. He's received a three-place penalty from the FIA, as well as two points on his racing licence.

During the second free practice, a cable at start/finish came loose, which immediately sparked a red flag. Ricciardo was in the middle of a hot lap, pumped the brakes hard when he approached the scene, but the FIA have stated that it wasn't enough. Three places punishment on Sunday's starting grid.

Max Verstappen had a good run in both practices, finishing just a few tenths of a second behind Lewis Hamilton. Last year, the difference between Hamilton and the Dutchman was over a second. This year; 0.127. 

Haas F1 impressed everyone with their pace at pre-season testing, and the American team has continued to impress at free practice. Last year, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen were often out of qualifying after Q3. This morning, Grosjean ended sixth, just over a second behind pace-setter Lewis Hamilton. Impressive stuff from the Americans.

A small issue for Haas during the second free practice; pieces of carbon fibre were flying around. However, the engineers flexed their immense technical muscles and superglued the loose pieces back to the car. Brilliant!

McLaren's first day in Melbourne had some familiar sights. Both cars had problems with their exhausts, which cost them a significant amount of practising time.

A good sign, however, is that both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne managed to end in the top ten. Being beaten by Haas to the fourth place (for places) must really annoy Eric Boullier's men, after all the talk about their improvements over the off-season.

Alonso said an interesting thing after the practising was over. After almost being pushed off the track, the Spaniard wonders if drivers forget to check their mirrors because of the halo, because you have to look past the brace to check them, and when you're driving you might not have time to do that.

Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen also almost ran into each other, and both drivers told the FIA that they didn't see each other. Could that be the halo's fault? Is the brace as safe as we thought?

The Big Three are still the fastest cars on the grid, but after them, the midfield has become very close, and they've collectively found a way to close the gap with the front rows. And then there's poor Sauber.

The Swiss team were a second behind the next car in front of them, and look to be staying in dead-last, just like last season. 

What is interesting to see is how close the two cars are between them. Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson were only separated by a thousandth of a second. But, you know, that won't get them any points.