Formula 1 News: Leclerc tops Verstappen in 2nd Practice

Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari set the best time of the day (1m17.277s) in the second practice for the Australian GP in Melbourne. He outpaced Max Verstappen (Red Bull, 1m17.658s) and his own team-mate Carlos Sainz (1m17.707s), the Spaniard back in action having had to miss the last two days of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after undergoing an appendectomy.

Alex Albon, meanwhile, was forced to sit out FP2 altogether following his heavy crash in first practice. The Thai driver was uninjured but the Williams squad required further time to assess the damage to his car.

As the flying laps on the soft tires came in, it was Leclerc who went fastest with a time of 1m17.277s. This put him 0.381s clear of Verstappen, who – after eventually joining the session around 25 minutes in – found himself slightly out of sync with the rest of the field in terms of his run plan.

Sainz slotted into third as the Spaniard continued his return to action after undergoing surgery following appendicitis two weeks ago, while the Aston Martin pair of Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso put in a good showing in P4 and P5 respectively.

George Russell set the sixth fastest time in what looked to be a slightly challenging session for Mercedes, ahead of Oscar Piastri in seventh and Sergio Perez in eighth. Lando Norris – who had earlier set the pace in FP1 – claimed P9, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top 10.

2024 Australian GP Practice 2 Results