Australian GP: Leclerc fastest in undisrupted FP2 ahead of Verstappen
22nd March 2024Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the timing sheets in the Free Practice 2 session, for the Australian Grand Prix, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who finished second-fastest.
The teams and drivers returned to the Albert Park Circuit for the second practice session of the race weekend, apart from Williams Racing driver, Alexander Albon.
Before FP2, it was announced by Williams that Albon would not participate in the session following his heavy shunt at turn seven in the first practice.
It has now been reported that Albon has damaged the chassis of his FW46 and the question remains if London-born Thai will be able to compete this weekend. In addition, the gearbox and engine are reported to be damaged too.
When the chequered flag fell on second practice, and the first day of the weekend, Leclerc topped the session as the fastest driver out on track with a lap time of 1m 17.277s.
Verstappen and, Leclerc’s teammate, Carlos Sainz rounded out the top three in P2 and P3, respectively. A total of four-tenths separated P1 from P3.
Lance Stroll was the leading Aston Martin in fourth ahead of his two-time world champion teammate, Fernando Alonso who occupied fifth.
Mercedes’ George Russell occupied sixth, to lead the remaining top 10 drivers, ahead of Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Sergio Perez (Red Bull) who occupied seventh and eighth.
FP1’s fastest driver, McLaren’s Lando Norris could only manage P9 in the second hour of running ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda who completed the top 10.
Kick Sauber’s Guanyu Zhou led the bottom 10 in P11 ahead of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, in 12th. Williams’ only remaining driver Logan Sargeant occupied P13 as Valtteri Bottas (Kick) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine) round out the top 15 in 14th and 15th respectively.
Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Kevin Magnussen complete the remaining drivers in 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th.
Understandably, Albon was the 20th driver but he did not set a lap time after he was ruled out of the session.
Free Practice 3 is next up on the F1 schedule for the race weekend and will start at 12:30pm local time (1:30am GMT).
That’s all for the article; Australian GP: Leclerc fastest in undisrupted FP2 ahead of Verstappen!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Norris fastest in Australian GP FP1 as Albon crashes out
- Susie Wolff files ‘criminal complaint’ against the FIA
- Piastri excited for Melbourne return as Stella looks to keep momentum
- Verstappen secures Saudi Arabia GP win as Bearman takes points on debut
- Verstappen claims first Saudi Arabian GP pole position by 0.3s
- Verstappen fastest in Saudi Arabia GP FP3 as Bearman makes F1 debut
Give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up with the latest news from the world of Motorsport! You can also support us on Patreon or on our website!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
