Australian Grand Prix – Free Practice 2: Hope for Ferrari?

After a very close free practice 1 session for the top eight, only 19 drivers are taking part in this second practice session of the day. Alex Albon crashed his Williams violently.

It is worth noting that Max Verstappen was stuck in his pit box for the first twenty minutes due to a damaged floor change, which happened during FP1. Some curbs are very aggressive for the cars.

FP2: A landmark on a constantly improving track

In the absence of the world championship leader, it is the Ferrari drivers and Lando Norris who are dominating this early session on medium tires. We are witnessing some notable performances from Stroll, Alonso, Gasly, Russell, and Sargeant, showing that the track is not yet optimal and drivers are still finding their bearings.

The second part of the session is dedicated to performance search and understanding of the soft tires.

At Ferrari, the latter seem less accommodating than the medium tires and change the behavior of the Italian single-seater. Nevertheless, Leclerc and Sainz are in the top two positions fifteen minutes before the end of the session, ahead of Max Verstappen and the two Aston Martins.

The Dutch driver had to shorten his medium runs to get back to the original pace of his session.

At the bottom of the standings, it is worth noting Lewis Hamilton’s underperformance, struggling to find the right setup. Suffering from pronounced understeer and oversteer, the British driver is fighting with the Alpines and Haas, far behind his teammate Russell.

Optimism for Ferrari?

The last quarter of an hour did not change the standings. Max Verstappen slightly improved his time on his last lap but remains almost four tenths off the best time of the Monegasque driver. Just ahead of Carlos Sainz who is recovering from his appendicitis surgery.

Despite the reigning champion’s deficit in track time, Red Bull seems to be slowing down. Sergio Perez is only in eighth place. There is hope for Ferrari, to be confirmed on Saturday during qualifying.

This session proved to be less tight than the first one with only 10 drivers within the same second. Aston Martin positions itself as an outsider with the fourth and fifth best times: a bluff in view of the qualifying session? Or a real performance on this atypical track?

Alex Albon’s participation in the upcoming weekend sessions is uncertain. The analysis of the monocoque is not complete and since Williams did not bring a third chassis to Australia, it is possible that the Thai driver’s race may be compromised.

Results table