( CNN ) -- It took him a while to get going in Australia but once he did , Lewis Hamilton proved just why he 's the favorite to win the 2014 Formula One world championship . The Briton led a one-two for Mercedes on the first day of the new season , underlining the German marque 's billing as the team who have adjusted best to the sport 's new mechanical regulations . Hamiltion heads into the year 's first race in Melbourne off the back of a productive preseason , but the early signs were less than promising . The 2008 drivers ' champion failed to complete a lap during the first session of practice at Albert Park , but he recovered in the afternoon to lead the timesheets ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg . Ferrari 's Fernando Alonso was third fastest . `` While it was disappointing to not get any track time this morning , these little hiccups are going to happen with the new cars and we 'll have to get used to that , '' Hamilton , who 's car had an oil sensor problem early on Friday , told the sport 's official website after a lap of one minute and 29.625 seconds . `` It felt like I was on the back foot from there but then we got up to pace quite quickly in P2 and found the balance relatively fast . `` I feel quite comfortable in the car so overall it 's a positive start but we need to look at the data now and understand where we are . `` We got a nice foundation for the weekend in the second session today so hopefully we can build on that in P3 tomorrow afternoon and then see where we are in qualifying . '' Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel was beset by problems during testing , with the all-conquering Red Bull team struggling to get the best out of its Renault engine . But despite many fearing the worst for the four-time title winner , Vettel was fourth fastest -- over half of a second adrift of Hamilton . `` In a way it 's a relief today , the fact that we were running , we did n't have any problems , the balance was good and the performance looked alright , '' said the German . `` In the end Friday times are not worth a lot , but it 's better to be close to the top rather than somewhere towards the back , so I 'm very happy with that . We will do what we can to prepare for tomorrow and Sunday , but let 's see where we are then -- the most important thing is that we finish . '' Vettel and co. will be back on the track for qualifying on Saturday , with the first race of the 2014 season taking place on Sunday . Interactive : 10 cars that changed Formula One .
Lewis Hamilton sets the pace in practice ahead of the Australian Grand Prix . The Mercedes driver failed to complete a lap in the morning session . Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: The first race of the 2014 Formula One season takes place at Albert Park on Sunday .