Welcome to the first practice session of the season at Albert park in Australia. It's been a very long 131 days since Vettel claimed the 2010 title in Abu Dhabi, but we're finally back and we've got what should be a very exciting weekend ahead of us.

It's dry at the circuit but the weather is overcast and rather windy. Not ideal for Pirelli, who were hoping for sunny and hot conditions to put their new tyres through their paces. It will be crucial for the teams to get a full understanding of how many laps the tyres can take ahead of qualifying.

The session is underway and Chandhok has gone straight into the barriers in the Lotus at turn four. He got on the throttle and the back end snapped out - it looks as though the tyres had no grip out there.

A remarkable start to the season! Chandhok looks absolutely gutted. This was his big chance to impress and the team desperately needed the set-up time for the tyres. Not good.

Meanwhile 14 other drivers have either successfully completed or are on installation laps.

It's already pretty frantic down in the pit lane. Hulkenberg has come back into the garage after an installation lap and the Force India team immediately set about tweaking and adjusting the car.

We know the track isn't offering up much grip at the moment, so we might see some of the bigger teams hold back before getting their work underway in earnest. Each driver has three sets of hard tyres and a set of softs to use today, so hopefully we'll see a fairly steady flow of traffic.

Kovalainen is on the pit wall giving his thoughts on why Chandhok lost control. That was Trulli's race car that went into the barriers, but it should be fixed by the time he gets his hands on it in second practice.

If you've got any questions or want to make a comment, feel free to send your thoughts to the commentary team by clicking on the link at the top of this window.

As predicted the track falls quiet with the installation laps done.

For those of you used to watching free practice sessions, you'll know that we have a bit of a chicken and egg situation where no one wants to go out until there is more rubber laid on the track but to lay that rubber we need drivers out on the track!

Correction - It was Trulli's car not Kovalainen's that Chandhok crashed.

HRT is firing up its car in the garage. No sign of it on track yet, but Liuzzi is keen to get out and put some laps on the new chassis.

Air temperature is 17C and track temperature is 21C, so the conditions aren't too different to those we saw at testing in Barcelona.

Who will break the silence? I'm willing to start taking bets...

Too late. It's Hamilton in the McLaren. The team has plenty of work to do on its brand new exhaust so the more time on the track the better for the MP4-26.

Hamilton is cruising around. Curiously the diffuser on the McLaren is white rather than the industry standard carbon-fibre black. Not sure what that is about, possibly heat monitoring.

Button is also out on track and cruising around in a similar style. We're still waiting for our first flying lap.

We just got a good look at the McLaren exhaust on the TV which looks very similar to the one on the Red Bull during testing and the Ferrari.

A delayed message from Will: "I'll bet on the v8 supercars breaking the silence - this is just silly given it's supposed to be a spectators sport."

A very good point. On the plus side Alonso is now on track in the Ferrari.

A look at the new McLaren diffuser © Sutton Images

Alonso is back in the pits and has been replaced on track by Vettel. The Red Bull is the favourite to take victory this weekend. They have also changed their exhaust slightly since Barcelona, it now looks very neat indeed.

Red Bull exhaust © Sutton Images

Maldonado is out and track and just came incredibly close to taking out a bird on the pit straight. That would have caught his attention in the cockpit.

Massa has set a flying lap with a 1:31.184 but has now ditched his car in the gravel heading into turn three. He keeps it together and rallycrosses through the gravel and back onto the track. No major damage done, but it's still very slippery down there at turn three and four.

Lots of action now. Webber has set a 1:31.576, Hamilton has clocked a 1:31.649.

Webber goes fastest with a 1:29.552. Massa has stayed out on track and is lapping just 0.020 off the Red Bull.

The moveable rear wings are being deployed at every possible opportunity. The drivers will be free to use them in qualifying so it is crucial they get on top of when they can and cannot use it today to take full advantage when it matters.

Massa returns to the pits after four flying laps. Hamilton is still on track and has gone fastest with a 1:29.033.

Webber immediatley responds to Hamilton with a 1:28.217 towards the end of a seven lap run. The lap times are still a long way off last year's pole time of 1:23.919 and we still don't know the fuel loads - so no need to get too excited.

Hamilton goes 0.266 off Webber towards the end of his run.

Vettel has ventured out for his first long run of the day.

Barrichello comes into the pits for a change of front wing. No damage, it's more likely a back-to-back comparison.

The Red Bull looks a lot more comfortable over the bumps into the braking area for turn one than the McLaren. But Vettel is still having to make corrections at the wheel on the exit of some of the corners. He's now second fastest with a 1:28.434.

Vettel goes fastets with a 1:27.869. That's 0.348 up on team-mate Webber and towards the end of his run. But Webber is back on track so, assuming there is still some life in his tyres, he could post a response.

Perez makes a small mistake into the penultimate corner as Webber runs wide earlier in the lap. It looks like we could be in for a prettu hectic race if the drivers continue to struggle for grip.

Vettel is still on track but his lap times have dropped away somewhat and it looks as though he is now on an in lap.

Massa is out on track with a rear wing covered in flo-vis paint. The engineers apply it so that they can see how the air flow is moving over the various elements of the wing.

Both the Red Bulls are back in the pits. They are still first and second ahead of Button and Hamilton. The McLarens are roughly 0.7 off Webber, who is 0.4 off Vettel.

Sutil locks up dramatically into turn one and runs straight into the cockpit.

A close up on Vettel's tyre shows a huge whole in the rubber after his 10 lap run. Not good news for Red Bull, but we should remember that the track will improve over the weekend and that will make it easier for the tyres.

Massa locks up and runs wide into turn one. Alonso slips past but he holds up Heidfeld as he comes back on track.

Just 15 minutes remaining now. We may well have seen the last of the quick laps as the tyres are past their best. The McLarens are leading the lap count on 19 each. Still no sign of the HRTs and Chandhok has not returned in the Lotus after his first lap crash.

Alonso goes second fastest in the Ferrari, just 0.010 off Vettel. He's completed 16 laps in total.

Renault says: "Understanding the impact of the adjustable rear wing is one of the main jobs today. Both drivers have been using it."

There is some debris on the track and there are reports that it was the right side of Kobayashi's engine cover that came off. We're waiting for a replay.

Webber has bolted on some fresh tyres and is on a fast lap, as is Vettel. So clearly the teams are making the most of the extra set of hard tyres they have in this session.

Webber goes fastest with a 1:27.450 but is immediately pipped by Vettel with a 1:27.158. Meanwhile Rosberg runs wide in sector two.

The McLarens are still pounding round with 26 laps each so far. The are the fifth and sixth fastest.

All the cars bar the HRTs, Chandhok, Koabayashi and Kovalainen are out on track.

The Renaults are running nose to tail on track and are also running close on the timing sheets in 11th and 12th.

The chequered flag comes out and Webber sets the fastest lap with his last attempt. A 1:26.831 - a good confidence boost.

Vettel was 0.327 off Webber and Alonso was nearly a full second off the fastest Red Bull. Rosberg was fourth fastest ahead of Barrichello, the two McLarens and Schumacher.

Thank you for joining us, we'll be back for the second practice session in two and a half hours time when we will see the first soft tyre runs of the season.