Australian GP: Verstappen trails Racing Bulls as Leclerc pips McLaren in FP2.
Charles Leclerc beat the McLaren drivers to P1 in Friday’s second practice for the Australian Grand Prix in an intriguing session that saw Racing Bulls the faster of the Red Bull outfits.
14 Mar 2025
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

While Leclerc once again won the Ferrari battle and Oscar Piastri edged ahead of Lando Norris, it was Yuki Tsunoda who was the fastest of the Red Bull quartet, with Isack Hadjar also ahead of Max Verstappen.

‘Racing Bulls the faster of the Red Bull outfits’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/austra...025-fp2-report


F1 2025 Australian Grand Prix – FP2 Results
14 Mar 2025
Motorsport Week

1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.439
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:16.563 0.124
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:16.580 0.141
4 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls 1:16.784 0.345
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:16.859 0.420
6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:17.019 0.580
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:17.063 0.624
8 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:17.161 0.722
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:17.279 0.840
10 George Russell Mercedes 1:17.282 0.843

‘FP2 Results’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...x-fp2-results/


Australian GP: Norris tops red-flagged FP1 as Bearman crashes
14/03/2025
Michael Delaney
F1i.com

McLaren’s Lando Norris topped the timesheet at Albert Park in a disrupted opening practice for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. The session at Albert Park was marred by two red flag interruptions, but Norris clinched the top spot with a late effort of 1m17.252s, edging out Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The first red flag came after debris was spotted on the track, likely from Jack Doohan’s Alpine, which had dragged gravel onto the racing line at the newly reprofiled Turn 6. Once cleared, Verstappen took advantage of the soft tires to momentarily set the fastest lap at 1m17.696s.

Just as the frontrunners started to gain momentum on fresh soft tires, the session was interrupted by a heavy crash involving Oliver Bearman at Turn 10. The Briton lost control, slamming the right side of his car into the barriers before debris scattered across the track. The session remained paused for several minutes before resuming with just 11 minutes to go.

‘Red-flagged FP1’;

https://f1i.com/news/532522-australi...n-crashes.html


Australian GP: Free Practice 1 Results
Full results from Free Practice 1 for the Formula 1 Australian GP from Albert Park.
14 March 2025
Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Pos Num Driver Team Laps Diff Best
1 4 Lando Norris McLaren – Mercedes 21 1:17.252s
2 55 Carlos Sainz Williams – Mercedes 25 0.149s 1:17.401s
3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 21 0.209s 1:17.461s
4 81 Oscar Piastri McLaren – Mercedes 20 0.418s 1:17.670s
5 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda 21 0.444s 1:17.696s
6 23 Alex Albon Williams – Mercedes 18 0.461s 1:17.713s
7 63 George Russell Mercedes 26 0.464s 1:17.716s
8 14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin – Mercedes 23 0.484s 1:17.736s
9 6 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls – Honda 25 0.595s 1:17.847s
10 18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin – Mercedes 20 0.805s 1:18.057s

‘Free Practice 1 Results’;

https://speedcafe.com/f1-news-2025-m...1-fp1-results/


Leclerc asserts early dominance over Hamilton in blistering Australian GP practice
FP2 provided an early window into how the teams are stacking up going into the first true test of qualifying on Saturday.
14 Mar 2025
Ian Parkes
RacingNews365

Charles Leclerc offered a glimpse into his potential early dominance over new Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton following the second practice session for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Leclerc left his lower-fuel, soft-tyre run late in the window set aside for such running in the hour-long session, knocking McLaren's Oscar Piastri off the top spot by 0.124s.

Leclerc finished 0.420s ahead of seven-time F1 champion Hamilton, who had to settle for fifth quickest, and with a clear indicator the car at his disposal has so much more to offer. Lando Norris, who was quickest in FP1, was third on the timesheet, 0.141s behind Leclerc and 0.117s down on local lad Piastri.

‘Leclerc asserts early dominance over Hamilton’;

https://racingnews365.com/leclerc-as...an-gp-practice


Martin Brundle spots ‘massive’ Max Verstappen issue watching Red Bull trackside at Australian Grand Prix
14 Mar 2025
David Comerford
F1 Oversteer

Max Verstappen and Red Bull struggled on the opening day of the Formula 1 season at the Australian Grand Prix. Verstappen begun the defence of his title after winning the last four in succession. The Dutchman was only seventh fastest in FP2, more than six-tenths of a second off the pace set by Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. Somewhat damningly, Verstappen was also slower than Racing Bulls duo Yuki Tsunoda (fourth) and Isack Hadjar (sixth).

Martin Brundle notices Max Verstappen grappling with oversteer at Australian Grand Prix. At the start of FP2, Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle watched the drivers circulate from a vantage point at turn one. He said the car that looked the most unstable was Verstappen’s Red Bull. The Dutchman had to correct a ‘massive’ slide when pushing through the high-speed chicane. There was an improvement when he next arrived, but the RB21 was still ‘loose’.

‘Martin Brundle spots ‘massive’ Max Verstappen issue’;

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/mar...an-grand-prix/


Marko’s concerning Aus GP verdict after ‘not promising’ Red Bull step
14 Mar 2025
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

“The first practice was better,” Marko admitted to Sky Germany. “What we made in terms of changes was not promising.”

As a result, Marko believes the “maximum” Red Bull can now hope to achieve is a “second row” start at Albert Park and a podium and, with the RB21 moving “between understeer and oversteer”, Marko pointed out “of course that also goes on the tyres during the long run”, far from ideal in a race situation.

“It seems that McLaren is the strongest team, and then it gets tight between Ferrari, Mercedes and us,” Marko added.

'Marko’s concerning Aus GP verdict';

https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Sport/F1.../Australian+GP