F1 LIVE: George Russell investigation as driver gets huge race ban update

The Formula 1 season is upon us, with the opening race set to take place in Melbourne. This year's curtain-raisercomes with several major changes being introduced across the grid.

The Grand Prix weekend is well underway and McLaren man Oscar Piastri has set the pace so far in practice. Alongside the Woking-based team are Mercedes, who saw Kimi Antonelli and George Russell clock in the second and third fastest laps, ahead of the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen had a more dramatic day, making an off-track excursion during FP2 when his RB22 went wide on the outside of Turn 12 at Albert Park. It is Aston Martin who are receiving most attention so far, however, and not for good reasons.

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Team principal Adrian Newey has revealed his team finds itself in a critical position, having already eaten through half of its battery allocation at the Australian Grand Prix. Aston Martin are five seconds off the pace already and still working on vibration issues that risk nerve damage and will ultimately see the team not complete the race this weekend.

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