Medium-tyred runs were first in FP2, with Sainz, the FP1 leader, setting the early pace, before softs were fitted and Leclerc jumped to P1.
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On Friday at the Australian Grand Prix free practice, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in FP2 ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Scuderia teammate Carlos Sainz. For FP2, dark clouds had formed over Albert Park, bringing with them the threat of rain, which was heightened but ultimately unrealized. Medium-tyred runs were first, with Sainz, the FP1 leader, setting the early pace, before softs were fitted and Leclerc jumped to P1.
With less than 20 minutes to go, Verstappen jumped to second, his early soft-tyre runs hampered by traffic, then a lock-up in Sector 3 before finally managing a more representative lap on worn tyres to finish 0.245s behind Leclerc – and drop Sainz to third. Fernando Alonso of Alpine set a blistering lap to pass Sergio Perez for fourth place, while Alonso’s teammate Esteban Ocon finished sixth – three tenths behind the two-time champion.
Valtteri Bottas’ medium tyre pace was strong, but when softs were used, he dropped to seventh for Alfa Romeo, finishing ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Daniel Ricciardo, Norris’ teammate, finished P10, with AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly splitting the papaya-colored cars on the leaderboard.
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Mercedes’ George Russell was in P11, while Lewis Hamilton was in P13 for the constructors’ champions, with Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri sandwiched between the two. With 10 minutes left in the session, Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin’s wheel cover flew off, causing the only red flag of the session. Zhou Guanyu of Alfa Romeo finished 14th, ahead of the Canadian.
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Kevin Magnussen finished 16th after struggling for mileage in the first practise session. Magnussen’s Haas teammate Mick Schumacher in 18th split Williams’ duo of Alex Albon in 17th and Nicholas Latifi in 19th. Sebastian Vettel’s FP1 session was cut short due to smoke coming from his AMR22, with the four-time champion doubling as a fireman and then a scooter driver with a post-session lap of the track. Vettel didn’t show up for FP2 and thus finished 20th without setting a time – the team had to replace his Mercedes power unit.
