MELBOURNE, Australia — The Formula 1 season kicked off Friday with practice for the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc turned the quickest lap of the second practice session with a 1:16.439 lap, which was .1245 seconds quicker than the circuit completed by McLaren driver Oscar Piastri.
“The feeling in the car was good and we had a solid first day on track,” Leclerc said. “There is still some margin for improvement in terms of the balance, which is the same for everyone across the paddock, given that these cars are still pretty new to all of us and we have to push to understand their limits.
“It’s too early to come to any conclusions. We will only get a first idea of the respective pace of all the teams in qualifying. All in all, it was a good day, and we look forward to tomorrow, when we want to target pole position.”
Lando Norris was third on the speed charts in the second McLaren, while Yuki Tnunoda was fourth for the Racing Red Bulls.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth quickest in his debut for Ferrari.
Isack Hadjar was sixth in the second Racing Bulls Honda, while four-time world champion Max Verstappen put his Red Bull machine seventh on the practice sheet.
Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and George Russell (Mercedes) completed the top 10.
