In an exhilarating second practice at the Australian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc outperformed Oscar Piastri to clinch the top position. The event, which followed a tense initial practice marred by two red flags, saw Ferrari and McLaren establish themselves as the frontrunners, confirming pre-season predictions. Leclerc managed to edge out the competition in this fierce contest, setting a formidable time of 1m16.439s.
Aussie native Piastri, representing McLaren, fell just 0.124s short of Leclerc’s pace, while his teammate Lando Norris, who had topped the charts in the initial practice, trailed by a further 0.017s.
However, the surprise package was Yuki Tsunoda of Racing Bulls, who finished fourth, outpacing Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari. Tsunoda clocked in just 0.345s behind Leclerc, while his rookie teammate Isack Hadjar also put on a commendable performance, finishing only 0.235s slower than him and securing the sixth spot.
Hamilton, who found himself sandwiched in the fifth position, expressed issues with understeer right from the beginning of the training session, echoing his feedback from the first practice. By the end of the second practice, he had managed to reduce the gap to Leclerc to 0.42s, showing a significant improvement compared to his 0.67s deficit earlier in the day.
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen finished a disappointing seventh, struggling with an unruly car that mirrored its poor performance in the first practice. Verstappen was 0.624s off the pace, while his new teammate Liam Lawson lagged significantly behind in the 17th position, 1.2s slower than Leclerc.
The team fielded two different specifications of the RB21, hoping to gain deeper insights about the car. Despite the initial hiccups, the team remains optimistic about finding the sweet spot with more track time.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg put on an impressive show, finishing eighth despite a high-speed detour through the gravel at Turn 6. He ended just 0.098s behind Verstappen. He was followed by Lance Stroll of Aston Martin, while Mercedes’ George Russell, despite a few hiccups, rounded off the top 10, clocking in at 0.843s off the pace.
Williams teammates Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, who had finished second and sixth respectively in the first practice, slid to the 11th and 12th positions in the second practice, with identical times that were exactly 0.863s off the lead.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso followed closely, with Alpine teammates Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly trailing behind. Doohan, the Australian driver, managed to outperform his French counterpart by 0.099s.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes had a relatively quiet session, finishing 16th, followed by Lawson, Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto and Haas driver Esteban Ocon, who trailed by more than 1.5s.
Haas rookie Oliver Bearman was unable to participate in the session due to a hefty crash earlier in the afternoon. The British driver lost control at the super-fast Turn 10, hitting both right-hand corners against the barriers. The resulting damage to the power unit and gearbox was too extensive to be fixed during the break between sessions, leaving the rookie with limited experience ahead of the qualifying rounds.
