John N
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc won FP2 ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Clouds unfurled over Albert Park but there was no rain. Medium-tyred runs came first, FP1 leader Sainz setting the early pace, before soft tires were equipped and Leclerc shot to P1. Verstappen jumped to second with under 20 minutes left, his opening soft-tired runs compromised by traffic, then a lock-up in Sector 3 before the Dutchman finally managed a more representative lap on worn tires to finish 0.245s off Leclerc – and drop Sainz to third.. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso put in a blistering lap to take P4 at Sergio Perez’s expense, while Alonso’s teammate Esteban Ocon was sixth – but three-tenths down on the two-time champion.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas had a strong medium tire pace but dropped to seventh when the soft tires were equipped. Mercedes’ George Russell finished in 11th place while teammate Lewis Hamilton finished P13. Yuki Tsunoda of AlphaTauri was between the pair. Lance Stroll brought out the only red flag of the session when a piece of his wheel cover flew off with 10 minutes remaining, ending up 14th. AlphaTauri’s Zhou Guanyu rounded out the top 15.
Kevin Magnussen took 16th on the timesheet, struggling a little for mileage during FP1. Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi were the only other drivers in the top 20 to be split by a Haas car, with Mick Schumacher splitting their times in 17th. Sebastian Vettel had to end his free practice early after smoke poured out of his AMR22 – Vettel turned fireman as he helped extinguish the blaze before driving a scooter back to the pits. Vettel didn’t appear again for FP2, leaving him 20th on the timesheet without an official lap time. The Ferrari driver’s team had to replace his Mercedes power unit between FP1 and FP2.
The 2022 Australian Grand Prix weekend continues on Saturday with FP3 at 1300 local time, before an all-important qualifying session at 1600 local time.
