1 Lewis Hamilton 1:29.725 

2 Daniil Kvyat 1:30.146

3. Daniel Ricciardo 1:30.875

4. Nico Hulkenberg 1:31.325  

5. Max Verstappen 1:31.720

6. Nico Rosberg 1:31.814

7. Fernando Alonso 1:33.060

8. Jenson Button 1:33.129

9. Sergio Perez 1:33.370

10. Kevin Magnussen 1:34.060

11. Valtteri Bottas 1:34.550

12. Felipe Mssa 1:34.679

13. Felipe Nasr 1:34. 796

14. Jolyon Palmer 1:35.477

15. Marcus Ericsson 1:37.956

16. Pascal Wehrlein 1:40.401

17. Kimi Raikkonen 1:40.754

18. Esteban Gutierrez 1:41.780

19. Rio Haryanto 1:43.372

20. Romain Grosjean 1:43.443

No time: Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz 

Daniel Ricciardo climbs out of his beached Red Bull and jogs to a trackside exit. He's miles away from the pits and is swiftly stopped by some fans for a few selfies as he starts the long journey back. He could be a while!

Anyway, for what it's worth, here's the times...

There's a howling wind accompanying the rain now and conditions are evidently getting tricky for the drivers as Kimi Raikkonen locks up and goes straight on at Turn 13.

Daniel Ricciardo then beaches his Red Bull in the gravel. It's all happening!

Nico Rosberg gets his first timed lap in on the softs - a 1:31.814 - which moves him up to sixth, before Lewis Hamilton improves at the top of the timesheet with 1:29.725.

A lock up for Esteban Gutierrez and he is briefly off on to the grass, while Sebastian Vettel emerges. He hasn't set a lap time yet, but he backs off his lap as once again a spurt of heavy rain arrives.

Six minutes left and Nico Rosberg wants to get back in amongst the action. 

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer in Melbourne

What sort of shape are the new Haas team in for their debut season? 

After the first pre-season test in Spain, things were looking good; not so much after a string of reliability problems severely restricted mileage at the second. Lead driver Romain Grosjean is optimistic that the issues they suffered in Barcelona have been fixed, but says further ones are “inevitable” for a new team finding their way. 

For now, expectations are being kept well in check. What would success be? “Two cars in the race,” Grosjean said, “one to the finish. Scoring points would be unbelievable.” 

Pace-wise, Haas are believed to be in a tight lower-midfield group with Renault, McLaren and Sauber.

Image source, Getty Images

All sorts of movement on the leaderboard, the most significant of which is Lewis Hamilton storming into P1 with 1:30.164. He is half a second clear of Daniel Ricciardo in P2.

That famous variable Melbourne weather strikes again as rain drops start to fall on the circuit, and a fair few drivers opt to head back in. Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Felipe Nasr are among the handful staying out for now.

The K-Mag really does have fantastic hair.  

Very busy now on the circuit as Nico Hulkenberg goes fastest in the Force India, clocking 1:31.325. We've also leapt now got 17 timed laps on the board. 

You are not wrong Ian. 

There's a flurry of activity in the pits as drivers clamber back into their cars and head back out onto the circuit. 

Max Verstappen is one of them, he's got the soft compound on and finds a bit of a damp patch just after Turn 6 and spins before righting himself and getting back on his way. No drama.

I do like the Renault livery - very 1990s - but I'm not a fan of the excessive amount of yellow in the garage. I'd have got a migraine by now. 

Back to on the track matters and the changeable weather has made for a very bitty first practice session of the season. Not a great deal has really happened, 12 drivers have now completed one timed lap, nothing yet from the Saubers or the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz.

Plenty of people have been struggling to get their heads around the new qualifying format, so we've been asking for what you find more confusing. 

Here's BurySue with her nocturnal kitty woes.

"There's a lot of inconsistencies on the power delivery," reports Esteban Gutierrez. 

He then goes on to record Haas' first time of an in-season session with 1:41.780, before Rio Haryanto spins and is into the gravel. Still getting used to the circuit is the rookie.