McLaren’s Oscar Piastri set the fastest time of Friday’s practice running at the Australian Grand Prix, topping the second session at his hometown circuit as Mercedes and Ferrari also showed strong pace in Melbourne.
Piastri’s 1:19.729 in Practice Two left him 0.214s clear of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, with team-mate George Russell a further 0.106s back in third. Lewis Hamilton was fourth in the other Ferrari, just 0.321s off Piastri, while Charles Leclerc — who had been almost half a second clear of the field in Practice One — could only manage fifth in the afternoon, suggesting Ferrari could not fully maximise their late-afternoon setup.
The afternoon times represented a turnaround from Practice One, when Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two over Hamilton with a 1:20.267. In that opening session the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar were behind the Ferraris, but that order shifted in the second hour.
Verstappen was sixth in Practice Two, 0.637s off Piastri, after a technical glitch kept him in the garage for almost half the session and he later suffered a big off at the high-speed Turn 10, running into gravel and avoiding the barrier but appearing to have damaged the floor of his Red Bull. The Dutchman had been running strongly in the morning before the problems in the afternoon.
Reigning champion Lando Norris was seventh for McLaren in Practice Two despite suffering a clutch problem in the first session that limited him to seven laps. Norris had largely uninterrupted track time in the second session but only managed one clean push lap on fresh softs, leaving him just over a second behind team-mate Piastri. Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad impressed with eighth in the afternoon after a strong showing in Practice One (fifth), while Hadjar was ninth.
Aston Martin continued to struggle with their troublesome Honda power unit. Fernando Alonso did not set a time in Practice One and was well down the order in Practice Two, while Lance Stroll managed just three laps in the opening session and also remained towards the back. Alonso’s best in Practice Two was almost five seconds off the pace. The only driver behind the Aston Martins in the second session was Sergio Perez, who was unable to set a time after stopping on track in the closing stages for Cadillac; his team-mate Valtteri Bottas completed 28 laps but was almost four seconds off the pace.
After the biggest regulation change in F1 history — new chassis and power units for 2026 — the sport’s “big four” of McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull emerged as quickest in testing and on Friday, but the precise pecking order remained unclear. Mercedes had been widely tipped to lead the way in the paddock; Toto Wolff acknowledged after Practice One that they “weren’t in such a good place,” but the team vindicated that confidence with stronger long-run pace in Practice Two as Antonelli and Russell impressed on extended runs.
McLaren endured a mixed day with reliability issues in Practice One for both drivers, but Piastri’s late flyer confirmed the team could still be in the mix for Saturday’s pole. Ferrari started fast in the morning but Leclerc’s failure to improve in the second session after a setup change may have stalled momentum. Verstappen’s afternoon problems left him playing catch-up before his Turn 10 incident.
Qualifying — one of the most anticipated first sessions of a season in years, given the regulation reset — takes place at 5am local time on Saturday and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
Australian GP Practice One Timesheet
1) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:20.267
2) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.469
3) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.522
4) Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.820
5) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.046
6) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.075
7) George Russell (Mercedes) +1.104
8) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +1.109
9) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.429
10) Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) +1.702
11) Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.894
12) Carlos Sainz (Williams) +2.056
13) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +2.346
14) Oliver Bearman (Haas) +2.415
15) Alex Albon (Williams) +2.863
16) Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +3.058
17) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +3.755
18) Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +3.768
19) Lando Norris (McLaren) +4.124
20) Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +4.353
21) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +30.067
22) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) no time set
Australian GP Practice Two Timesheet
1) Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:19.729
2) Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.214
3) George Russell (Mercedes) +0.320
4) Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.321
5) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.562
6) Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.637
7) Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.065
8) Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.193
9) Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +1.212
10) Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.450
11) Oliver Bearman (Haas) +1.597
12) Nico Hülkenberg (Audi) +1.622
13) Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.629
14) Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.939
15) Alex Albon (Williams) +2.118
16) Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +2.438
17) Carlos Sainz (Williams) +2.524
18) Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +2.890
19) Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +3.931
20) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +4.933
21) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +6.087
22) Sergio Perez (Cadillac) no time set
Sky Sports F1 coverage continues across the weekend, with Practice Three, qualifying and the Australian Grand Prix race all broadcast live.