Lewis Hamilton left his rivals trailing in their wake as he came out on top in the first two practice sessions ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
The three-time world champion headed a Mercedes one-two in the first session of the season, edging new teammate Valtteri Bottas and leaving Ferrari with some early thinking to do.
Hamilton ended more than half a second clear at the top on 1:24.22, while Red Bull duo Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen finished just ahead of Ferrari's pairing, with home driver Ricciardo posting the third-fastest time - 0.6s slower than Hamilton.
It was a similar story in second practice, meanwhile, as Hamilton this time finished 0.54s clear of Ferrari's Vettel in second, who himself was narrowly ahead of Bottas.
Ricciardo finished in fifth, behind Raikkonen, while Fernando Alonso exceeded expectation in the McLaren-Honda to set the 12th quickest time in the final session of the day.
Final practice takes place in the early hours of Saturday morning Down Under, with qualifying scheduled to get under way later in the day.
Daniel Lewis
