Hamilton fastest in wet opening practice at Australian GP

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Reigning Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in first practice for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, though a wet track at the Albert Park street circuit meant there was little meaningful running on Friday.

Hamilton best lap was 1:29.725 seconds - 3.4 seconds slower than last year's pole position time - and that was four tenths of a second faster than Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull. Local favorite Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg were third and fourth.

Heavy morning showers created a wet track, and intermittent showers through the session meant there were only two brief windows of a few minutes each in which drivers were able to use dry-weather tires.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was not able to complete a lap.