Best time for Ferrari

2nd free practice in Melbourne – LIVE from 6 a.m.

Charles Leclerc

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc got himself in the mood for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne with the fastest time of the day in practice. The Monegasque drove 0.381 seconds faster than world champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull in the second session on Friday. Leclerc's team-mate Carlos Sainz was third. There should no longer be any doubts about the fitness of the Spaniard, who was forced to watch the session in Saudi Arabia due to an appendectomy.

Lando Norris in the McLaren had set the fastest time in the first practice session. The Briton relegated Verstappen and Mercedes man George Russell to second and third place. The time gaps were extremely small - Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez in sixth place was only 0.078 seconds slower than the leader.

A negative factor for Verstappen was that he ruined his underbody when he touched down on the kerbs and therefore had to reduce his planned program. "We had some damage to the floor and the chassis, which took a little longer to repair. That meant I had to play a bit of catch-up," he said. "The team did a great job, but in the end we lost a bit of time in FP2. Normally I would have liked to have done a few more laps and I couldn't do many long runs. But I think the laps we did were good."

The final results of the second free practice session:

Albon crashes into the wall
An accident involving Williams driver Alexander Albon initially caused a lengthy interruption. The English-born driver with a Thai license lost control of his car in turn six and crashed into the track wall. Albon demolished his car in the process, but was able to get out on his own. After an interruption of around ten minutes for recovery work, practice resumed.

Albon missed the second session, and Williams could only have one car on the track this weekend if repairs are not completed in time. This is because the traditional team does not have a replacement chassis available in Australia.

Alexander Albon wrecked his car.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Martin KEEP)

Experiment backfired
Mercedes also had problems in the second practice session. The team carried out more or less extensive experiments with the set-up in order to obtain information about the handling. Russell got to grips better with his set-up and finished sixth, while Lewis Hamilton was 18th. "It didn't feel good out there today," said Hamilton. "We made some big changes before FP2, which unfortunately made the car worse." Team boss Toto Wolff said: "That backfired massively."

Lewis Hamilton has not got going so far.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Andrej ISAKOVIC)

For Verstappen, the tenth win in a row this season is on the agenda on Sunday (5 a.m. CET). If the Dutchman also finishes first in Australia, he will have equaled his own Formula 1 record from the previous season.