Piastri leads Friday practice as Verstappen hits trouble

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri led the way as Max Verstappen hit trouble in second practice of Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix.

Piastri claimed top spot in his McLaren with a 1m19.729s to sit 0.214 seconds clear of Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, who was a further tenth back in third.

The Mercedes pair headed the timesheet early on during the qualifying simulation runs on soft tyres, before Piastri pipped them both with a new benchmark time as the field dipped into the 1m19s in the second practice session at Melbourne.

2026 F1 Australian Grand Prix - Friday Practice Results

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were fourth and fifth, with seven-time world champion 0.321s down on the quickest time as the Scuderia continued its encouraging and trouble-free start to the weekend.

Max Verstappen placed sixth but was 0.637s off the pace in his Red Bull. The four-time world champion lost track time in the first half of the session when his RB22 got stuck in gear at the end of the pitlane, leading to a fairly lengthy spell in the garage. 

Verstappen went sixth-fastest when he re-emerged on track for the final 30 minutes but also had a huge moment when he suffered a big off at the high-speed Turn 10, jumping across the gravel.

The Dutchman managed to keep his Red Bull out of the barriers, but damaged the underside of his car in the scary moment.

World champion Lando Norris was off the pace compared to his McLaren teammate as he ended up seventh, a full second slower than Piastri.

Arvid Lindblad continued his impressive start to life in F1, with the Racing Bulls newcomer once again securing a top-10 appearance as he took eighth ahead of the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar.

Esteban Ocon rounded out the top-10 order, ahead of Haas team-mate Ollie Bearman.

Aston Martin's nightmare start continues

Aston Martin’s woes continued with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finishing five seconds off the pace in 20th and 21st.

Alonso was at least able to complete 18 laps in a better session for Aston Martin, but Stroll’s session ended prematurely when more PU issues struck.

Adrian Newey made a dire new revelation after first practice, admitting Aston Martin only has two batteries available for its Honda power units in Australia. 

Sergio Perez had a troubled session and was unable to get a timed lap in, with his Cadillac breaking down on his first proper tour of Albert Park, having spent most of FP2 stuck in the garage. 

Russell and Alpine's Franco Colapinto both avoided penalties following separate stewards investigations. 

Russell was warned for failing to follow the race director's instruction to follow the proper practice start procedures, while the Briton received a reprimand for his pit lane clash with Lindblad. 

No further action was taken against Colapinto for suddenly slowing down on the main straight, which forced quick-thinking from Hamilton to avoid a huge accident.