{"id":15622,"date":"2026-03-06T12:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/?p=15622"},"modified":"2026-03-06T12:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:04:08","slug":"australian-gp-oscar-piastri-fastest-in-second-practice-two-tenths-faster-than-the-mercedes-duo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/australian-gp-oscar-piastri-fastest-in-second-practice-two-tenths-faster-than-the-mercedes-duo\/","title":{"rendered":"AUSTRALIAN GP \u2013 Oscar Piastri fastest in second practice, two tenths faster than the Mercedes duo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oscar Piastri was fastest in second practice for this weekend\u2019s season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The Melbournian set a 19.729, putting himself two tenths faster than the Mercedes duo, with Kimi Antonelli a tenth faster than teammate George Russell following an interesting session.<\/p>\n

Piastri held on despite only going fastest in the first sector on his soft run, despite many tipping Mercedes as the team to beat and McLaren going into the weekend on the back foot. Lewis Hamilton had set the early pace on hard tyres but was shuffled to fourth, the seven-time champion just a thousandth behind Russell as he went nearly a quarter of a second faster than Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n

Leclerc, who was almost half a second clear of the field in first practice, failed to improve his time, finishing fifth in the second session, suggesting Ferrari were unable to maximise their potential in the late-afternoon conditions.<\/p>\n

Mercedes continued to impress after their low-key FP1 showing, with Antonelli becoming the first driver to breach the 1:19s bracket just before the halfway point of the hour. It wasn\u2019t all smooth sailing, however, as Russell locked up and rattled over the gravel at Turn Three, an error which Hamilton replicated later in the session.<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen was sixth, three-quarters of a tenth behind Leclerc and six tenths off the pace, after he lost nearly half of the second session by a technical glitch that caused him to stop in the pit lane exit in the opening moments. He then survived a trip through the gravel at Turn Ten, but there did still appear to be considerable floor damage to his Red Bull.<\/p>\n

FP2 was much smoother for Lando Norris following reliability issues earlier on Friday, the world champion going seventh on his only qualifying run, which could explain why he was a second off teammate Piastri. Norris was two hundredths faster than his fellow Englishman, Arvid Lindblad.<\/p>\n

The expected top four, McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, were covered by a second, a lot closer than was expected at the start of testing. But practice for all four had promise, but also concern.<\/p>\n

Mercedes was tipped as the favourites, but it\u2019s been shaky. Antonelli finished more than a second behind Leclerc in the first session. CEO and team principal Toto Wolff said after the session that his team wasn’t “in such a good place,” but his confidence that they would improve throughout the weekend was vindicated by a much-improved showing later on.<\/p>\n

Ferrari backed up their strong pace in testing, but Leclerc’s failure to improve in the second session following a set-up change may have halted his momentum. Hamilton was able to go half a second faster in the second session, providing further evidence that the seven-time world champion feels far more comfortable in this Ferrari.<\/p>\n

Verstappen in FP1 was closely matched with Ferrari for much of first practice, but his progress was halted by a technical failure at the start of the second session which would keep him in the garage for almost half the session.<\/p>\n

From there, the four-time world champion was playing catch up, which perhaps showed as he pushed too hard and went for a bumpy ride through the gravel on the outside of Clark (Ten) in the closing stages.<\/p>\n

Lindblad made an impressive start to his first weekend; he put his Racing Bull two hundredths faster than the man he replaced at Racing Bulls, Isack Hadjar. Esteban Ocon completed the top ten after going nearly a tenth and a half ahead of Haas teammate Ollie Bearman, a decent start as they tended to struggle following regulation changes.<\/p>\n

Nico Hulkenberg was seven thousandths faster than Liam Lawson, the second Racing Bulls split the Audis as he went three tenths faster than Gabriel Bortoletto. Alex Albon was three tenths faster than Pierre Gasly, followed by their respective teammates Carlos Sainz, eight and a half hundredths off, and Franco Colapinto, a further three and a half off.<\/p>\n

Valtteri Bottas was a second faster than the two Aston Martin\u2019s with Fernando Alonso a second faster than teammate Lance Stroll.<\/p>\n

Alonso was forced to sit out the first session while Stroll managed just three laps, and although the pair managed a combined thirty-one laps in the second hour, they remained at the bottom of the timesheet with Alonso’s best effort still almost five seconds off the pace.<\/p>\n

The only driver behind the Aston Martins in the second session was Sergio Perez, who was unable to set a time for Cadillac, as what had been a solid first day for the F1 newcomers finished on a sour note when the Mexican stopped on track in the closing stages.<\/p>\n

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