Hamilton plays catch-up as Leclerc tops Australian GP practice

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time in the second free practice session at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 8 March, leaving new Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton trailing.

The Monegasque driver lapped the Albert Park circuit in 1:16.439 on soft tyres, finishing 0.124 seconds ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri, while Lando Norris secured third. Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, improved from 12th in the first session but could only manage fifth, more than four-tenths of a second off Leclerc's pace.

Yuki Tsunoda, who missed out on a Red Bull seat to Liam Lawson, placed fourth, while his rookie Racing Bulls teammate Isack Hadjar finished an encouraging sixth. Defending champion Max Verstappen could only manage seventh for Red Bull, and George Russell, the fastest Mercedes driver, was 10th.

The opening day of the championship featured six debutants and was marked by multiple incidents. Briton Oliver Bearman was unable to take part in the second session after crashing his Haas earlier in FP1. A slide through the gravel at turn six sent him spinning across the track, dislodging his right rear wheel. Though unhurt, he apologised to his team after bringing out the second red flag of the session.

Stewards had already halted FP1 once due to debris from an unnamed car. Williams drivers Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon, who had placed second and sixth in FP1, slipped down to 11th and 12th in the later session.

Russell endured a challenging start, struggling with understeer and excessive heat in his Mercedes. He spun off late in FP1, narrowly avoiding a front-on collision with the wall, and ended the session seventh before dropping to 10th in FP2. His rookie teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli was 14th in FP1 but fell to 16th later in the day.

Alpine's Jack Doohan and Red Bull's Liam Lawson both required repairs after going off track in FP1. Lawson, stepping into one of F1's most demanding seats as Verstappen's teammate, had an early brush with the wall at turn nine. Though ordered back to the garage, he avoided major damage and rejoined the session, posting the 16th quickest lap—one position better than his FP2 result.