AUSTRALIAN GP – Charles Leclerc fastest by just over a tenth from Oscar Piastri in second practice
Charles Leclerc topped the times in second practice ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver set a 16.439 going a tenth and a quarter faster than Oscar Piastri. The Monacan setting his fastest time midway through the session on his first run on the soft tyres to push both McLarens down the order.
Piastri was just under two hundredths faster than his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, but the team go into the opening race as the favourites given solid qualifying and race pace in testing in Bahrain two weeks ago. However, the performance of Leclerc and his performances in qualifying suggests he can fight for pole.
Yuki Tsunoda put his Racing Bull fourth going ahead of Lewis Hamilton by three-quarters of a tenth, with the seven-time champion four-tenths off teammate Leclerc. Along with being a match for McLaren over one lap, Ferrari also appeared competitive during the longer running done in the latter stages of the session. Hamilton was a tenth and a half faster than Tsunoda’s teammate Isack Hadjar.
Hamilton was slower than Leclerc all day six tenths and also about tenth down on average on their race-simulation runs late in the second hour’s running. But he complained about turning the car. But the analysis suggests that on race runs Ferrari and McLaren have the edge with Leclerc consistently fastest from Norris and Hamilton.
Though the full picture remains unclear like in testing that won’t become clear until qualifying, it suggests that McLaren and Ferrari could be the teams to fight it out for pole. Max Verstappen put his Red Bull seventh almost half a tenth behind the Racing Bull, but they are well aware that they are going into the season facing strong opposition.
The four-time champion was one of several drivers to struggle with the handling of his car as teams attempted to find well-balanced setups with the 2025 cars after just three days of testing in Bahrain last month. But Verstappen was a tenth faster than Nico Hulkenberg while his teammate Liam Lawson could only manage seventeenth.
Verstappen’s best time coming on medium (C4) tyres after he aborted his qualifying run on the soft tyre after going wide at Turn Three. It appears that Red Bull still has the issues which affected them in the second half of last year, with the world champion not expecting to be able to match the McLarens for raw pace, but rain is forecast for the race on Sunday.
That would create a situation which could bring him and Hamilton back into play, as both drivers excel in wet and mixed conditions.
Hulkenberg was a tenth faster than Lance Stroll, despite a trip through the gravel at the exit of Turn Six. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was another driver to make an excursion into the gravel later on. George Russell completed the top ten going three thousandths behind Stroll in the Mercedes, and ahead of both Williams.
Carlos Sainz missed out on the top ten by two hundredths as he set the identical lap time as Williams teammate Alex Albon, but was ahead by setting the time first. Williams go into the season looking to join the tight midfield consistently, and the look to be the most improved going into the new season.
Fernando Alonso was thirteenth ahead of both Alpine’s, as Jack Doohan went ahead of his teammate Pierre Gasly by a tenth. Kimi Antonelli put his Mercedes seventeenth ahead of Liam Lawson, who looked to be having some difficulties during a race simulation run later on, while Bortoleto and Ocon completed the order in eighteenth and nineteenth.
Mercedes showed decent pace on the medium and hard tyre compounds but were concerningly unable to find the expected significant improvement when switching to the quicker soft compound.
Ollie Bearman briefly went out onto track at the end of the session but only completed an instal lap and not a time meaning he was not classified.