Charles Leclerc demonstrated Ferrari’s strength as he paced the field in second practice for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix on Friday.
The Monegasque driver’s time of 1:16.439s couldn’t be beaten with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, his closest challenger, 0.124s slower.
A sunny afternoon at the Albert Park circuit saw all but one of the 20 F1 drivers run laps in the second practice session of the 2025 season.
After his crash in FP1, Haas’ Oliver Bearman missed out on the action where we got our first proper indicator of how qualifying will play out, with drivers committing to soft tyre runs during the one-hour session.
F1 2025 Australian Grand Prix – FP2 Results
With Leclerc and Aussie home hero Piastri heading the field, it was left to another title hopeful, Lando Norris, who went fastest in FP1, to post the third fastest time, 0.141s slower than Leclerc and just a fraction behind his team-mate.
Racing Bulls put in another strong showing after finishing ninth and 11th respectively in FP1, improving to fourth and sixth with Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar in the second practice session.
Lewis Hamilton completed his first GP day as a Ferrari driver with the fifth fastest time, four tenths off of the pace of his team-mate as he continues to acclimatise to the Italian outfit.
During his quali-sim, Max Verstappen looked out of sorts and dissatisfied with his Red Bull RB21, prompting late set-up changes which failed to improve his standing of seventh, six tenths off of the pace.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Mercedes’ George Russell rounded out the top-10.
Williams heads the bottom half of the FP2 timesheet in Australia
After getting both cars in the top-10 during FP1, Williams was on the fringes in second practice with Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon finishing 11th and 12th respectively, an indicator that the Grove-based outfit is on target to be among the midfield front runners.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was 13th fastest ahead of the Alpine duo of Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly.
Two of the inexperienced members of top teams struggled to hook a strong lap together and that was Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull new boy Liam Lawson – 16th and 17th respectively.
Lawson, in particular, has ground to cover as he was six tenths slower than his team-mate.
Rounding out the timed runners were Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Haas’ Esteban Ocon, completing a field spread of 1.5s.
READ MORE – Lando Norris fastest, Oliver Bearman crashes, in Australia FP1
