Oscar Piastri topped Friday’s practice running at the Australian Grand Prix, setting the fastest time of Practice Two at his home circuit as Mercedes and Ferrari also showed strong form in Melbourne.
Piastri went quickest in Practice Two with a 1:19.729, 0.214s quicker than Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli. George Russell was third, a further 0.106s back, while Lewis Hamilton put the second Ferrari fourth, 0.321s off the McLaren. Charles Leclerc, who had led a dominant Practice One, slipped to fifth in the afternoon session on 1:20.291, suggesting Ferrari were unable to fully exploit their late-afternoon setup change.
The afternoon order represented a turnaround from Practice One, when Leclerc topped the timesheets with a 1:20.267 and Hamilton completed a Ferrari one-two. Red Bull looked slower in the morning behind the Ferraris but shuffled up and down through the day.
Max Verstappen was sixth in Practice Two, 0.637s off Piastri, after a technical issue kept him in the garage for much of the session. He later had a large off at the high-speed Turn 10, running through gravel and avoiding the barrier but apparently damaging the Red Bull’s floor. Verstappen had been running well in Practice One before his afternoon trouble.
Reigning champion Lando Norris finished seventh for McLaren in Practice Two despite having a clutch problem in Practice One that limited him to just seven laps. Norris enjoyed largely uninterrupted running in the afternoon but managed only one clean push lap on fresh soft tyres, 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 the opening session, while Isack Hadjar rounded out the top nine in Practice Two.
Aston Martin again struggled with their Honda power unit. Fernando Alonso failed to set a time in Practice One and was well down the order in Practice Two, nearly five seconds off the pace. Lance Stroll completed only three laps in the first session and remained towards the back in the afternoon. Sergio Perez was unable to set a time in Practice Two after stopping on track in the closing stages for Cadillac, while team-mate Valtteri Bottas completed a longer run but finished almost four seconds adrift.
After the major regulation changes that arrived for 2026 — new chassis and power units — the sport’s traditional ‘big four’ of McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull again looked quickest during testing and on Friday, though the precise pecking order is still unclear. Mercedes, widely tipped to be strong this year, admitted after Practice One that they “weren’t in such a good place,” but the team showed better long-run pace in Practice Two as Antonelli and Russell put in convincing extended runs.
McLaren had a mixed day with reliability issues in the morning for both drivers, but Piastri’s late flyer in the second session confirmed McLaren could still be in contention for Saturday’s pole. Ferrari started fastest in the morning but Leclerc’s inability to improve after the setup change may have stalled their momentum. Verstappen’s technical and off-track issues left Red Bull playing catch-up heading into Qualifying.
Qualifying is scheduled for 05:00 local time on Saturday and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports.
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
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 will continue live coverage across the weekend, including Practice Three, Qualifying and the Australian Grand Prix race.