<p class="bodytext">Formula One World champion Lewis Hamilton took up where he left off last season with the fastest lap times in opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hamilton followed up his opening practice best time of one minute 24.026 seconds with 1:23.931 in the second session to hold a 0.127sec gap over Red Bull's Max Verstappen (1:24.058).</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas (1:24.159) was third in Melbourne in the first exchanges of the new season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikonnen and Sebastian Vettel were fourth and fifth respectively and between 0.3-0.5secs down on Hamilton's time ahead of Saturday's qualifying.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Australia's big hope Daniel Ricciardo in a Red Bull was seventh fastest in 1:24.721.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hamilton's long-run pace looked superior on the ultrasoft tyres, reeling off a steady run of 1:28s, but race pace simulations showed little between the three leading teams.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Red Bull managed to lap in the high 1:28s with Ferrari in the low 1:29s.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Verstappen and Bottas both used soft tyres for the final few minutes of the second practice session, while Raikkonen was on the supersoft for Ferrari.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hamilton is gunning for his fifth world title this year, an achievement which would match the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and leave him just two adrift of Michael Schumacher's all-time record.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bottas and Raikkonen faced the stewards after the session to explain a coming together, when Bottas had to take to the gravel to avoid running into the Ferrari.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The surprise of the opening day was the performance of the Haas team to challenge for the fourth-fastest team on the back of two strong showings from Romain Grosjean.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The second session was halted briefly after a cable was ripped up from underneath the start/finish line, and resumed after officials cut loose the wire.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A fired-up Fernando Alonso yelled down the McLaren team radio: "Maybe because of the halo the people stop looking into their mirrors!" after a close shave with some of his rivals early in the session.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The halo, a safety bar above the cockpit to protect drivers, is a new innovation this season.</p>
<p class="bodytext">Formula One World champion Lewis Hamilton took up where he left off last season with the fastest lap times in opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix on Friday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hamilton followed up his opening practice best time of one minute 24.026 seconds with 1:23.931 in the second session to hold a 0.127sec gap over Red Bull's Max Verstappen (1:24.058).</p>.<p class="bodytext">Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas (1:24.159) was third in Melbourne in the first exchanges of the new season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikonnen and Sebastian Vettel were fourth and fifth respectively and between 0.3-0.5secs down on Hamilton's time ahead of Saturday's qualifying.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Australia's big hope Daniel Ricciardo in a Red Bull was seventh fastest in 1:24.721.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hamilton's long-run pace looked superior on the ultrasoft tyres, reeling off a steady run of 1:28s, but race pace simulations showed little between the three leading teams.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Red Bull managed to lap in the high 1:28s with Ferrari in the low 1:29s.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Verstappen and Bottas both used soft tyres for the final few minutes of the second practice session, while Raikkonen was on the supersoft for Ferrari.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Hamilton is gunning for his fifth world title this year, an achievement which would match the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and leave him just two adrift of Michael Schumacher's all-time record.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Bottas and Raikkonen faced the stewards after the session to explain a coming together, when Bottas had to take to the gravel to avoid running into the Ferrari.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The surprise of the opening day was the performance of the Haas team to challenge for the fourth-fastest team on the back of two strong showings from Romain Grosjean.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The second session was halted briefly after a cable was ripped up from underneath the start/finish line, and resumed after officials cut loose the wire.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A fired-up Fernando Alonso yelled down the McLaren team radio: "Maybe because of the halo the people stop looking into their mirrors!" after a close shave with some of his rivals early in the session.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The halo, a safety bar above the cockpit to protect drivers, is a new innovation this season.</p>