KICK Sauber F1 Team had a productive start to the Australian Grand Prix weekend, completing two smooth practice sessions at Albert Park, officially marking the start of the new season.

Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto carried out their scheduled programmes in both sessions, focusing on gathering data and fine-tuning the setup of the C45 to suit the track conditions. The team will further analyse the findings, making the necessary adjustments to prepare for tomorrow's qualifying session.

Nico Hulkenberg: "It has been a positive first Friday for us as a team. We changed the setup quite a bit between FP1 and FP2 and the resulting feedback turned out to be positive. It didn't feel that easy, though the lap times on low fuel look ok. In the end tomorrow's qualifying will tell us where we are compared to the competition. We managed to gather a lot of information which we process overnight and obviously we'll try to improve by tomorrow. Right now, it's about taking it step by step and optimizing the car session by session."

Gabriel Bortoleto: "Overall, I'm quite happy with today. We tested a few different things, especially in FP2, focusing on gathering as much data as possible to understand what works best and identify where we can improve. It's been a valuable day for learning about the car and the track conditions. FP3 tomorrow will give us another chance to fine-tune the setup and make any adjustments we need ahead of qualifying. The feeling has been decent so far, and I'm looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow."

Check out our Friday gallery from Albert Park here.