Hometown Hero Oscar Piastri Tops Second Melbourne Practice, Promising Signs for Aston Martin F1 Team

Oscar Piastri thrilled local fans by putting McLaren F1 Team at the top of the timesheets in the second free practice (FP2) for the Australian Grand Prix on Friday, while struggling Aston Martin F1 Team managed a minor boost by getting both cars safely through laps.

The hometown favourite lapped Albert Park in 1:19.729 on a sunny afternoon, 0.214 seconds ahead of [“athlete”,”Mercedes”] drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Piastri had finished sixth in FP1, having faced power unit calibration issues that limited his running.

“There are just so many things to get to grips with,” he said of F1’s new engine era. “It’s very different to what we had last year, but I think FP2 as a session was pretty smooth.”

McLaren teammate and defending champion Lando Norris also suffered reliability problems, including a transmission issue in FP1, leaving him 19th in the first session. He recovered to seventh in FP2.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth quickest in FP2 for Mercedes, ahead of fifth-placed teammate Charles Leclerc, who had topped FP1 in 1:20.267.

Pit Lane Drama

The new hybrid engines, which rely more heavily on electric power than last year, have presented a steep learning curve, forcing drivers to carefully manage energy deployment and regeneration.

FP1 saw the virtual safety car deployed twice, and FP2 continued the drama with incidents in the pit lane.

Russell required a minor front-wing repair after colliding with Arvid Lindblad, the 18-year-old Racing Bulls rookie, while exiting the garage. “This guy’s just hit my front wing,” he said over team radio. Both drivers are set to face the stewards.

Franco Colapinto of Alpine F1 Team will also be investigated for abruptly slowing in the pit lane, forcing Hamilton to take evasive action.

Max Verstappen stalled exiting the Red Bull garage and later locked up at Turn 10, sliding heavily into the gravel. The four-time champion, last year’s runner-up, missed nearly half the session but returned to set the sixth-fastest time.

Lindblad, the youngest-ever British F1 racer and sole debutant this season, impressed with his composure, finishing fifth in FP1 and eighth in FP2, outpacing teammate Liam Lawson. Turn three proved particularly tricky, with Russell, Hamilton, and Leclerc all locking up and sliding into gravel.

Better Signs for Aston Martin

Aston Martin’s FP1 was largely disrupted by reliability issues, but Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll combined for 31 laps in FP2, setting the 20th and 21st fastest times. Stroll’s best lap was six seconds slower than Piastri’s, but the session was an improvement after Alonso missed FP1 entirely and Stroll managed only three laps.

Both Aston Martin drivers are running limited laps due to the risk of permanent nerve damage from car vibrations, and the team remains on edge due to battery concerns.

New team Cadillac F1 Team struggled, with Sergio Perez 20th in FP1 and missing most of FP2 due to a sensor issue. Teammate Valtteri Bottas also fell back to 19th in FP2 from 17th in FP1.

Teams have one final practice session on Saturday before qualifying, with questions remaining over how the new engine regulations will hold up in race conditions.

Early signs suggest the cars are slower: Piastri’s best FP2 lap was over three seconds off Leclerc’s corresponding time of 1:16.439 at Albert Park last year.