Leclerc outpaces McLaren in final Friday Practice

Getting up to speed around Albert Park, Charles Leclerc was the man to beat in Free Practice 2 while the McLaren duo rounded out the top three, separated by just two hundredths. 

Caught up in a tentative moment at the pit exit, Liam Lawson was forced to dodge Lando Norris who had decided to conduct his opening practice start as the Kiwi exited the pitlane, making for an annoyed start to his FP2 session. 

Lawson returned the favour to the fast-flying Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, forcing the Monegasque to abandon his run as he rounded the final sector.

Making the switch to the soft compound with the hope of some pace reflecting on the timing sheets, Lawson scraped across the kerb at Turn 3 before running into the gravel at Turn 6.

Carrying a frustrated driver around the circuit, the #30 Red Bull sat all the way down in P17 and was unmoving as his lack of experience at Albert Park was on full display. 

Lawson rounded out the uncertain session in P17, 1.2 seconds off the pace. 

The start of Jack Doohan’s FP2 campaign was quiet until the Australian made a step closer to the top ten with a time of 1:18.199s, further improving on his next tour of the 5.2km circuit by three-tenths.

Discarding the medium compound, Doohan’s soft tyre runs allowed him to maintain his place on the border of the top ten before an error left the Alpine driver asking the team to “check the car” as he “bottomed a bit on the exit of Turn 10”.

Switching back to the medium compound, the remainder of the session was stable for Doohan who continued to familiarise himself with the street circuit before ending the day in P14, ahead of Pierre Gasly.

Getting a taste of Sunday’s action, Oscar Piastri quickly found himself racing with Lawson on the duo’s initial outlap, however, it didn’t impact his early runs when the Australian boosted himself into the top ten.

On the soft compound tyre, Piastri was at a deficit to his teammate until the 40-minute mark of the session when he shot up into P2, two-hundredths ahead of Norris. 

Piastri held his ground as the second fastest driver around his home circuit, with his 1:16.563s seeing him remaining ahead of Norris through to the chequered flag. 

Despite an awkward start to his session, Norris was the early man to beat after setting an initial benchmark of 1:17.671s on the medium compound.

The McLaren driver found himself sliding into Turn 3, however it was three corners later that gravel was sprayed on the circuit thanks to Nico Hulkenberg’s overambitious entry. 

He wasn’t the only driver running off course, with Pierre Gasly heading straight into the gravel at Turn 3 and complaining of brake issues after a domino effect of impeding on his warm-up lap left him unprepared.

The timing sheets began reflecting Ferrari’s speed around Albert Park, with Charles Leclerc, unbothered by his role in the aforementioned impediment, setting a new benchmark of 1:16.794s.

Lewis Hamilton soon followed suit, moving his SF25 into P2, however, four-tenths slower than his teammate as the soft tyre runs kicked off.

Instantly impressing on the C5 was Yuki Tsunoda who lit up the timing sheets with two purple sectors before demoting the Ferrari duo by a slim ten-millisecond margin, even after dipping a wheel off-track. 

As the pace picked up, traffic continued to be a huge issue for many drivers, with Isack Hadjar almost rear-ending a McLaren, George Russell having to weave his way through the streets of Melbourne, and Gasly stating that “no one is looking in their mirrors”. 

Despite this, all laps were completed without fuss, with Leclerc reinstating his place as the fastest car ahead of the McLaren duo.

The most notable additions to the top six were the RB duo, who outpaced Red Bull across the span of the entire session including after switching back to the C4 where improvements were scarce for the entire grid.

The final minutes of the session saw the Haas F1 Team’s huge rebuild efforts coming close to being rewarded, however, they fell just short of allowing Oliver Bearman to come out for one late attempt. 

The rest of the field put on one last display for the crowd, conducting practice starts before calling it a day.

Tomorrow, the cars will be back on track for one final practice session before an all-important qualifying session takes place under the hot Melbourne sun. 

FP3 will start at 12:30 PM on Saturday, followed by Qualifying at 4:00 PM.

Image: Epic Sports Photography – Peter Norton

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