Charles Leclerc was the standout performer in the second practice session of the Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 weekend, which saw multiple drivers experiencing difficulties off the track. Leclerc, driving for Ferrari, was an impressive 0.381 seconds faster than championship leader Max Verstappen in terms of single lap pace. The top 10 was closely contested, with less than half a second separating Leclerc from the cars behind him.
Leclerc’s best time of 1m17.211s was achieved with a personal best in the final sector. His previous benchmark time of 1m17.423s, which would have still been good enough for first place, included the fastest times in the other two sectors. Verstappen, who missed the first 20 minutes of the session due to a floor change on his RB20 after going off-track at Turn 9/10 Esses, set his best time later in the session.
One of the most promising aspects for Leclerc and Ferrari was his performance on medium tires during long-run simulations. The first five laps on mediums showed consistent pace from Leclerc, with times ranging from 1m22.832s to 1m23.047s. Other drivers also demonstrated their performance on medium tires, including Sainz, Piastri, Verstappen, Perez, Russell, and Stroll.
Despite Verstappen’s late start and limited long-run simulations, Leclerc’s advantage in single-lap pace seemed to carry over when race fuel was added towards the end of the session. Leclerc had a clear advantage over his teammate Sainz, who returned to the Ferrari cockpit after missing the Saudi Arabian GP due to appendicitis. Sainz was only half a tenth slower than Verstappen’s time.
In the FP2 order, the Aston Martins of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso secured fourth and fifth positions respectively. Stroll had a couple of incidents at the slow, left-hand penultimate corner, while Alonso had a moment out of Turn 6. George Russell performed well for Mercedes, finishing sixth fastest, while his teammate Lewis Hamilton struggled and ended up in 18th place, 1.5 seconds off the pace. Hamilton’s session was also marred by a moment at Turn 10 due to a setup change that didn’t work as intended.
The McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, along with Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull, completed the top eight. Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10 for RB. Williams had only 19 cars running as they were busy repairing Alex Albon’s car after his crash in practice one. They did not have a spare chassis available in Melbourne.