Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc posted the fastest time during Friday’s second practice session for the Australian Grand Prix, getting around the Albert Park circuit in 1:16.439.
That was 0.124 seconds quicker than Oscar Piastri, who clocked the second quickest time ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Norris enters the season-opener as the early favorite to claim his first world championship.
“But certainly not happy, like not confident with the car in terms of finding the best balance and being consistent enough, especially on low fuel,” Norris told reporters.
“High fuel, I felt good. Just low fuel was still similar to Bahrain, too many inconsistencies, too many problems, so a bit of a struggle.”
Yuki Tsunoda was fourth in the practice session. Then came seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was 0.42 seconds off the pace of his new Ferrari teammate.
Hamilton, 40, is making his debut for the Italian team after 12 years at Mercedes, and acknowledged that he faces a steep learning curve ahead of Sunday’s season-opener.
“I’m just going to try and enjoy it. I’ve got some pace to find, I know where I’m going to find it. It’s just about going out and doing it,” Hamilton told reporters when asked if earning the pole during Saturday’s qualifying session is possible.
“I’m really still getting used to all the setup changes so it’s like I don’t have them on call like I used to have obviously at Mercedes.”
RB2’s Isack Hadjar was sixth during FP2, followed by defending champion Max Verstappen. The four-time defending world champion was fifth and seventh during the two practice sessions, while Red Bull teammate Liam Lawson finished 17th after brushing the wall in the first session and needing to have work done on his car.
“The problem is that it’s not really like I have major balance problems, so I think it will be a bit hard to fix,” Verstappen told reporters. “But it’s also nothing that I didn’t expect when I arrived here, so I’m not positively or negatively surprised with the pace that we are showing.”
George Russell was the fastest of the Mercedes cars, finishing 10th and struggling to keep pace over the course of a full lap. It was an improvement on the first practice session, when Russell spun off the track.
That was still a far better day than rookie Oliver Bearman, who damaged his Haas after spinning across the track and sliding through the gravel. The 19-year-old took full responsibility for the spin.
Carlos Sainz, who signed with Williams after losing his Ferrari seat to Hamilton, finished in 11th ahead of teammate Alex Albon.
Another rookie, Mercedes’ 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli, finished 16th in FP2 after being 14th in the first session.
–Field Level Media
