Live: F1 Australian GP commentary and updates – FP1 & FP2 | Live text

Over two years on from the cancelled Australian GP due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, F1 makes its highly-anticipated return to a revamped Albert Park for 2022.

The key track changes see sections of the circuit widened, the Turn 9-10 chicane taken out to increase speeds in a flowing back section and the entire layout has been resurfaced. All changes have been made in the hope of increasing overtaking opportunities and creating more exciting races.

Sebastian Vettel is back in action for Aston Martin after missing the opening two races having tested positive for COVID-19.

Charles Leclerc leads the early F1 drivers’ world championship by 12 points from Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr, with reigning world champion Max Verstappen in third 20 points off Leclerc.

Opening practice for the Australian GP gets underway at 4am BST (1pm local time), followed by second practice which starts at 7am BST (4pm local time).

By: Haydn Cobb, Tom Howard

Summary


	Summary - Leclerc leads FP2 for Ferrari at the revised Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne for F1's first visit Down Under since the cancelled 2020 race - Sainz headed his team-mate in FP1, but is beaten to second in FP2 by Verstappen's Red Bull - who trailed championship leader Leclerc by 0.245s - Vettel absent from FP2 after his Aston Martin suffered an engine issue in FP1 - The four-time world champion will visit stewards after returning to the pits on a scooter via the track, in violation of rules - Russell ended up as the fastest Mercedes in P11, while Hamilton finished P13, 1.5s shy of Leclerc - Debris from Stroll's sister Aston brings out red flag in FP2 after Perez's Red Bull had done the same during FP1
	Leaderboard Leclerc, Ferrari, 1m18.978s Verstappen, Red Bull, 1m19.223s Sainz, Ferrari, 1m19.376s Alonso, Alpine, 1m19.537s Perez, Red Bull, 1m19.658s Ocon, Alpine, 1m19.842s Bottas, Alfa Romeo, 1m20.055s Norris, McLaren, 1m20.100s Gasly, AlphaTauri, 1m20.142s Ricciardo, McLaren, 1m20.203s

Status: Stopped

10:35 In the meantime, we'll have all the reaction from Friday's running, including the all-important number-crunching feature, online later today. So be sure to keep an eye on Autosport.com for all the latest news and analysis from Melbourne. See you tomorrow.

10:35 Thanks very much for joining us this morning. We'll be back tomorrow with all the action from FP3 and qualifying - please do follow along with us then.

10:33 Here's the full report from FP2 in Melbourne, as Charles Leclerc topped the times for Ferrari ahead of Max Verstappen: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-australian-gp-leclerc-beats-verstappen-to-top-fp2/9711882/

10:31

10:20 Haas appeared to not to be quite at the races today. Magnussen's 1m21.191s was good enough for only 16th and meant he was over a second and a half slower than Alonso at the head of the midfield. Can the team turn it around tomorrow?

10:18

10:14 With Russell only 11th and Hamilton 13th, it's been hardly an ideal day for the Silver Arrows. Hamilton took to the gravel at Turn 14 too, underlining that the W13 isn't easy to drive at the moment.

10:13 Although he had a faux pas at Turn 1 and plunged into the gravel, Bottas appears to have continued his race-winning form from 2019 and is a strong seventh for Alfa Romeo, while McLaren appears to be getting on top of its braking troubles with both cars inside the top 10. But what of Mercedes?

10:12

10:06 It was an encouraging day for Alpine. Now in their blue livery after running a pink hue for the first two races, the French cars appeared to be the best of the rest today as Alonso beat Jeddah poleman Perez into fourth and Ocon claimed sixth spot.

10:04 Unlike FP1, where Ferrari locked out the top two places, the scarlet cars were split this time around by Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Still, a 0.254s gap is still a fairly healthy one in F1 terms.

10:03 So it's a case of as you were for Ferrari, only this time with Leclerc ending FP2 on top after Sainz had led FP1.

10:00 The checkered flag is out, bringing an end to FP2.

10:00 Over at Alfa, Bottas remains firmly in the top 10 with a 1m20.055 that has him seventh at the moment. But its second car driven by rookie Zhou is a second further back and at the tail of the midfield runners in 15th.

09:58 Ferrari responds that it doesn't see anything wrong at the moment. Leclerc is currently lapping in the mid 1m23s bracket on the mediums.

09:57 "I've got a lot of air in the cockpit," Leclerc reports. "Is everything okay?"

09:55 The Ferrari may be quick, but it's porpoising horribly on the long run to the fast left-right chicane and giving Leclerc's neck a real workout as it bounces up and down.

09:53 Meanwhile, Leclerc is told "everybody reporting graining on the medium compound".

09:53 Almost everybody is back on track for the final flourishes, with the exception of the two Astons.

09:52 An Australian marshal has retrieved the rogue piece of carbon fibre and we're back underway for the final nine minutes of FP2.

09:49 There's debris on the racing line at the exit of Turn 13, which appears to be from Stroll's Aston Martin. It's not in a safe place for a marshal to recover it.

09:48 We've got a red flag.

09:46 Ocon and Tsunoda are both out on hard tyres at present, both seemingly content with their day's work on softs.

09:45

09:44 Bad news for Vettel as Aston Martin confirms he won't take any part in FP2. There could still be worse to follow as he's due to visit the stewards later.

09:43

09:42 Verstappen goes for another lap and is once again quickest in the middle sector, but misses out on top spot with a 1m19.223s that splits the Ferraris.

09:41 Just under 20 minutes of the session remain now. Will we see any more performance runs? Does Verstappen have an answer for Ferrari, and can Mercedes climb the order?

09:40 Of the Mercedes-powered cars, the quickest so far is Norris in P8, with Ricciardo next up in tenth. Then it's Russell in 11th, with Hamilton 13th.

09:40 Verstappen had just set the fastest middle sector of anybody and was on course to improve again before locking up his left-front and running wide on the penultimate corner. An expletive follows over the radio as he sails past the apex.

09:38 The Red Bull team leader's progress is mirrored by Perez, who splits the Alpines by going fifth fastest on a 1m19.658s.

09:37 Verstappen is also gamely improving in the Red Bull, chipping away to reach a 1m19.386s in third.

09:36 Leclerc is still finding laptime in the Ferrari. He posts the first sub-19s lap of the weekend with a 1m18.978s to extend his advantage over Sainz.

09:34 After the Q3 heroics of Bahrain and Jeddah, it's been a quieter weekend so far for Kevin Magnussen and Haas. The Dane is 16th so far, ahead only of the Williams pair and team-mate Schumacher, who is slowest of the 19 runners to have hit the track with Vettel still stuck in the pits.

09:33 Perez also improves, but only to seventh behind Norris on a 1m20.120s.

09:32 Verstappen punches in the fourth quickest time to split the Alpines on a 1m19.812s.

09:31 Ocon meanwhile has gone fourth-fastest, slotting just in behind his team-mate Alonso - who remains fastest through the middle sector.

09:30 And sure enough, the Ferraris respond immediately. Both improve, but it's Sainz this time who gets the better of Leclerc with a 1m19.376s to go back to the top spot, with his team-mate second on a 1m19.487s.

09:29 There's a good lap from Alonso. The double world champion goes quickest on a 1m19.537s, which begs the question of how much more pace Ferrari has in reserve...