Second practice is under way...

... no-one is in a rush to head out. All the drivers are strapped in and ready to go so I'm sure it won't be long before we see movement.

Andrew Oakley: And we go again, saw snippets off the pace earlier but is going to be interesting to see the long run pace, especially in the midfield

Jennie Gow
BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporter

It was a very unrepresentative first session, a lot of people not taking it too seriously in terms of setting times. At the end of this session, though, we should have a clearer indication of where the teams are in the order.

Lewis Hamilton glides into the Mercedes garage on a mini-scooter.

All very straightforward for the reigning world champion so far.

Image source, Getty Images

There's a couple of new things to keep an eye out for on Sunday.

First up, race start time. It's been pushed back to 10 minutes past the hour rather than on the hour. This is because F1 bosses Liberty Media feel because some television coverage starts on the hour fans don't get much build up.

Secondly, there will be grid kids, rather than grid girls, on the grid before the race.

And finally, there will be not one, not two but three DRS zones at Albert Park with the aim of increasing overtaking on the track. The new zone begins on the exit of the quick Turn 12.

Now we've seen (or listened to/read about) the 2018 cars on track, what are your thoughts so far?

Send us your thoughts on all things Formula 1 to #bbcf1

BBC Radio 5 live

Second practice gets under way in just over 10 minutes and you can listen to audio commentary from the 5 live team via this page.

Who do you think will come out on top this weekend?

Select your top three for Sunday here.

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There are some encouraging signs for a closer season, however.

Lewis Hamilton finished half a second quicker than Valtteri Bottas in first practice but both their times were set on the ultrasofts.

Max Verstappen, third quickest, did his quickest time on the supersofts while Kimi Raikkonen's came on softs.

Image source, F1.com

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Melbourne

Mercedes were in front in first practice, followed by the closely matched Red Bull and Ferrari, then a gap to Haas, McLaren and Renault, also covered by fractions, and then Toro Rosso, Williams and Force India.

But it is Mercedes' pace that will send shivers up and down the pit lane - and perhaps among followers of F1 around the world.

It is early days - too early to draw a firm conclusion - but the metronomic consistency of Lewis Hamilton, who set a number of laps all quicker than anyone else, and his advantage over the field appeared ominous.

However, Hamilton has a special affinity with the Albert Park track, where the low-grip track surface, bumpy braking zones and go-karty feel plays to some of his many strengths.

Image source, Getty Images

No, you haven't accidentally clicked into one of our coverage pages from last year, Lewis Hamilton was indeed fastest in the first practice session of the new season.

So is it looking like more of the same? Another 90 minutes of practice should provide further clues as to what lies ahead in 2018...

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Melbourne

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were in imperious form in the first practice session of the new Formula 1 season.

The world champion was 0.551secs clear of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and 0.745 clear of Max Verstappen's Red Bull.

However, the Dutchman did not run the fastest ultra-soft tyre and neither did Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel in fourth and fifth.

Fernando Alonso recovered from reliability problems to be eighth quickest, behind Haas' Romain Grosjean.

Read more from Melbourne here.

Right, with two hours to go until we build up to second practice, we're going to pop away for a little while.

I'll leave you with a summary of first practice and join us again at 04:30 GMT for second practice.

Before we wrap things up for this session feel free to check out the below before second practice starts at 05:00 GMT.

• BBC Radio 5 live's Australian Grand Prix Preview
• Predict who will take the first win of 2018
• The Jolyon Palmer column

The drivers finish the session with some practice starts.

Deja vu at the top of the timesheet as Lewis Hamilton finishes quickest. He's almost a second quicker than title rival Sebastian Vettel (fifth) but Vettel's time was on the supersofts while Hamilton did his on the quicker ultrasofts.

Image source, Getty Images

A significant improvement for McLaren fans as Stoffel Vandoorne joins Fernando Alonso in the top 10 as a 1:26.482 puts him 10th.

Image source, Getty Images