McLaren’s hometown hero Oscar Piastri led a super-competitive final practice session Saturday for Sunday's Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix with the Australian just 39 one-thousandths of a second ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.

For all of pre-season and even during the first three practice sessions we have had here so far, the mantra has been “we’ll see after qualifying in Melbourne”. That is that whatever teams have been holding back or not,

The 24-race, 2025 Formula One season begins with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend. McLaren and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen start their respective defences of the constructors’ and drivers’ championships, with two free-practice sessions today ahead of qualifying tomorrow. Today: FP1 (9:30pm ET), FP2 (1am ET).