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Australian GP
F1 Australian GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP1 & FP2
Friday's action from the third round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
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Max Verstappen and Red Bull have dominated the opening two weekends of the season with Sergio Perez following his team-mate home in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
All eyes will be on Carlos Sainz on Friday with the Ferrari driver set to take part in the sessions before a final call is made on whether he or super-sub Oliver Bearman will contest the remainder of the weekend.
First practice begins at 1:30am GMT (12:30pm local time) followed by second practice at 5am GMT (4pm local time).
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Summary
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Summary
- Leclerc sets the pace in FP2 for F1 Australian GP
- Verstappen misses first third of the session amid floor change and finishes three tenths off the pace
- Norris topped FP1 for McLaren from Verstappen and Russell
- High-speed Albon crash interrupts FP1 with a red flag and he's unable to run in FP2
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Leaderboard
- Leclerc, Ferrari
- Verstappen, Red Bull
- Sainz, Ferrari
- Stroll, Aston Martin
- Alonso, Aston Martin
- Russell, Mercedes
- Piastri, McLaren
- Perez, Red Bull
- Norris, McLaren
- Tsunoda, RB
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And now, it's time to bid farewell for Friday. We'll be back again tomorrow with all of the action from Albert Park. But until then, thanks for joining us and here's a full recap of the action from FP2. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-australian-gp-leclerc-paces-fp2-verstappen-second/10589821/
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The top 10 is covered by less than one second, with little over 1.5s splitting Leclerc at the top and Hamilton in P18. Q1 and Q2 will be fierce if this trend continues.
Verstappen is second from Sainz, Stroll and Alonso.
Russell, Piastri, Perez, Norris and Tsunoda complete the top 10.
Russell, Piastri, Perez, Norris and Tsunoda complete the top 10.
Checkered flag
The chequered flag is out and Leclerc will end Friday in Melbourne at the top of the timesheets.
A big lock-up for Stroll at the penultimate corner as he runs deep onto the grass run-off. He recovers and continues onto another lap.
Hamilton has reported that "something's wrong" with his Mercedes after asking what lap times other drivers are registering. The seven-time champion is currently in the pits and is only 18th fastest.
In the middle of his long run, Leclerc suffers a snap of oversteer into Turn 1 and is forced to cut across the grass and gravel. A minor blip in an otherwise perfect session for the Ferrari driver.
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11 minutes remain of Friday running in Australia. Verstappen's early no-show hasn't cost him too much, with his 14 laps equal to that of Norris to this point.
We haven't seen it, but the timing screen has indicated that Sargeant has been off again at Turn 2 but continued.
Long runs are now the order of the day, with the order looking fairly set for the day now.
It's P3 for Verstappen, with a 1m17.707s - an identical time to that of Sainz! The pair are 0.430s back on Leclerc.
Red-walled soft tyres go onto Verstappen's Red Bull. This will test Ferrari's dominance of things so far in Australia.
Sainz completes his soft tyre stint and goes second, but he's still over 0.4s back from team-mate Leclerc. Ferrari are looking good so far in Australia!
Hamilton has bailed out of his opening effort on softs and is therefore still in P18. He'll go again after a recharge lap.
Stopwatch
Leclerc restores his dominance with a trio of fastest sectors to go back to the top with a 1m17.423s. He's 0.399s clear of the pack, although Verstappen is yet to fit the softs.
Now it's Russell's turn to cut the grass as he loses the rear at Turn 1 and runs across the scenery at Turn 2.
A moment for Magnussen at Turn 10 as he runs wide and bounces across the kerb and the gravel. Possibly the most common error at Albert Park over the years.
Now, on his second flying lap, Stroll replaces Alonso at the top with a 1m17.822s. If improvements come on the second effort, this could make qualifying even more interesting!
Finally, with his floor replaced, Verstappen is out on the track and is now on his first flying lap. Medium tyres are the preference for the Dutchman.
Stopwatch
More and more drivers are fitting softs now. Alonso goes again on the same set and this time hooks the lap together, although without any purple sectors. But the combination of personal bests puts him top with a 1m17.912s - 0.024 clear of Leclerc.
P4 for Perez. Leclerc's table-topping effort on medium rubber is looking better and better.
Stroll only manages ninth on his softs, but here comes Perez.
An average sector two but a personal-best final sector move Alonso to P2, 0.191s back from Leclerc in P2. That was a bit scruffy overall.
Alonso lights up the timing screen through sector one, going purple.
Soft tyres for Alonso! Could a qualifying simulation be incoming?
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Stopwatch
And as we say that, Leclerc goes fastest with a 1m17.936s.
Stopwatch
All drivers have been using the medium tyres so far in FP2 with a quarter of the session gone, and Norris is now the fastest man with a 1m18.201s.
It was a near-miss with the wall for Sargeant in that one, as he got overly familiar with the exit kerb at Turn 11 and completed a full 360.
As Leclerc moves to the top, Sargeant has spun but continued. He returns to the pits gingerly.
Stopwatch
Turning back to the on-track action, Perez has taken the top spot from Alonso with a 1m18.805s.
And it is confirmed. Williams has no spare chassis on-site at Albert Park.
Some development on the Albon line, as there are suggestions that Williams don't have a spare tub on-site and that Albon damaged his.
Speculation is that this could result in Williams electing to withdraw Sargeant from the weekend with Albon hopping into his car instead. Our F1 team in Australia will continue to dig on this one!
An early banker for Leclerc puts him second, but he's quickly pushed back by Piastri and Perez.
Stopwatch
And now Alonso takes the early top spot with a 1m19.412s.
Expect the times to fall rapidly in these early exchanges.
Stopwatch
Perez sets the first time of the session, with a 1m20.434s.
One driver not heading anywhere in a hurry, aside from Albon, is Verstappen. After running over a kerb late in FP1, the Dutchman picked up damage and a replacement has been required.
Honourary Australian Bottas is the first driver to take to the track as Perez, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Zhou and Magnussen all follow him out.
By: Autosport Staff
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