FP2: Leclerc sets the pace ahead of Piastri and Norris during second practice in Australia

Charles Leclerc has ended Friday at the Australian Grand Prix on top after setting the pace during second practice, the Ferrari driver leading the way from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

After Norris topped the FP1 timesheets earlier in the day, the cars returned to action at 1600 local time for another hour of running, with Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto leading the pack out.

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One name who would not be making an early appearance on circuit, however, was Bortoleto’s fellow rookie Ollie Bearman, as the Haas team continued to work on the teenager’s car following his heavy crash during first practice.

There was an early moment between Norris and Liam Lawson before the pair had even reached the track, with the McLaren driver attempting a practice start at the side of the pit lane exit. Lawson looked keen to get running and opted to go straight past, resulting in Norris having to take to the grass after his start to avoid the Red Bull.

There were further incidents as the session got underway; Nico Hulkenberg ran over the gravel trap at Turn 6 in his Kick Sauber, prompting the German to return to the pits for a floor check, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was another driver to make an excursion into the gravel later on.

After Leclerc led a Ferrari 1-2 from team mate Lewis Hamilton, following the initial runs on the medium tyre, the order started to change as most of the pack bolted on the soft compound for some fast laps, leading to Yuki Tsunoda briefly slotting his Racing Bulls challenger into P1 before being displaced by Norris on a 1m 16.580s.

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Just past the halfway mark, Leclerc returned to the top with his effort of 1m 16.439s – putting him four-tenths clear of Hamilton – while Max Verstappen lost some time in the garage during the final segment of the session as Red Bull worked on a set-up change, the Dutchman sitting in P7 on the timesheets.

Leclerc’s benchmark time kept him in first place as FP2 drew to a close, with Piastri 0.124s behind in second ahead of McLaren team mate Norris in third. Tsunoda and fellow Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar were fourth and sixth in an eye-catching session for the team, while Hamilton slotted between them in fifth.

Verstappen – who eventually returned to action after some tweaks on his RB21 – ended the day in seventh, while Hulkenberg claimed eighth from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in ninth and the Mercedes of George Russell rounded out the top 10.

The Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon followed in P11 and P12 respectively, with Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin and the Alpines of Jack Doohan and Gasly taking the positions from P13 to P15.

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Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli was 16th ahead of Lawson, who looked to be having some difficulties during a race simulation run later on, while Bortoleto and Ocon completed the order in 18th and 19th. Bearman, meanwhile, briefly appeared ready to hit the track in the last few minutes but ultimately did not get any laps.

With the opening day of track action now complete, the drivers and teams will look over their data before returning to the circuit for the third and final practice session on Saturday at 1230 local time, ahead of qualifying later in the afternoon.