The Latest Breaking News from Red Bull

A flurry of soft-tyre runs in preparation for qualifying later on Friday defined the final 10 minutes of practice, and Verstappen was one of the earlier takers to punch in a 1m35.912s to overturn Alex Albon's timesheet-topping lap as Williams opened running on the softest compound.

A flurry of soft-tyre runs in preparation for qualifying later on Friday defined the final 10 minutes of practice, and Verstappen was one of the earlier takers to punch in a 1m35.912s to overturn Alex Albon's timesheet-topping lap as Williams opened running on the softest compound.

The eight-time F1 race winner will return to the cockpit in this weekend’s United States Grand Prix after a five-round spell on the side-lines following his free practice crash at Zandvoort in late August.

The eight-time F1 race winner will return to the cockpit in this weekend’s United States Grand Prix after a five-round spell on the side-lines following his free practice crash at Zandvoort in late August.

At the most recent Qatar Grand Prix, as team-mate Max Verstappen won his world title, Perez was wiped out of the sprint race and copped three penalties for track limit breaches on Sunday.

South African rider Binder left it until the very end of the hour-long session on Friday afternoon to set the quickest lap of the day at the picturesque Phillip Island track, a 1m27.993s.

While its record-breaking campaign to secure a third consecutive F1 title double has seen it secure more of the same success, there have been big changes behind the scenes at a senior level.   

Standard Sport goes access-all-areas at Red Bull's factory to deliver an exclusive insight into what makes them tick

Three-time world champion closing in on Red Bull alumni's impressive tally of titles and race wins