Ferrari dominated Friday Practice for 2022 Australian Grand Prix as Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc topped both sessions.
Ferrari arrived in Melbourne, Australia, leading both the driver and constructor standings and enjoyed immediate positivity on a newly-tweaked track layout as F1 returned Down Under for the first time since their failed attempt in 2020.
Sainz in particular enjoyed a strong start as he headed Leclerc in a Scuderia one-two in FP1 before finishing third in FP2, as Leclerc finished fastest overall across both practice sessions.
Now here is a full roundup of FP1 and FP2 in Melbourne.
FP1
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was first out on track as F1 finally got the Australian Grand Prix weekend properly underway for the first time since 2019.
Lando Norris however initially led the pack with an early benchmark of 1m 23.066 but Verstappen dismantled that lap time once up to speed, as the reigning champion posted 1m 21.625 to go fastest in the 10th minute.
Verstappen proceeded to dominate the opening half-hour even despite a three minute red flag to allow safe removal of a loose part on Perez’s car at the final corner, which had blown off onto the track.
Ferrari eventually showed their hand in the 34th minute as Leclerc posted 1m 20.825 to go fastest , just moments after Verstappen had lowered his benchmark to 1m 20.857 which was immediately bettered by 0.032 seconds.
Four minutes, Leclerc found further time to lower the fastest lap to 1m 20.377 but his teammate, Carlos Sainz immediately toppled the Monegasque driver by 0.055s as he posted 1m 20.325 to go top just moments before Fernando Alonso spun out of Turn 11 to cause yellow flags.
Sainz eventually lowered the benchmark time below the 80s barrier as he posted 1m 19.806 in the 44th minute, which saw him top the session after many failed to improve following a five minute red flag due to Sebastian Vettel stopping on track with a power unit issue.
At the checkered flag, Sainz headed Leclerc in a Ferrari one-two with Perez snatching third in the closing minutes from Verstappen, as Norris, Esteban Ocon, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Alonso and Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top ten as all fastest laps were set on soft tyres.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 1m 19.806 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.571 |
| 3 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.593 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.820 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.072 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.198 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.221 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.349 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 1.423 |
| 10 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.441 |
| 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.483 |
| 12 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 1.651 |
| 13 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 1.855 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 1.895 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 2.015 |
| 16 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.063 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 2.948 |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 3.380 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 4.118 |
| 20 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 4.543 |
FP2
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was first out on track as everyone opted for medium tyre opening runs except for Vettel who didn’t participate in this session, as Aston Martin focused on changing his power unit ready for Saturday (9 April).
Bottas’ benchmark lap time of 1m 22.410 was swiftly dismantled by both McLaren drivers then Leclerc followed by Sainz, but it was Leclerc who went top with 1m 20.898 after the first set of fliers.
Bottas responded on his second flying lap with 1m 20.432 to go fastest but was again quickly bettered as Sainz went fastest from Leclerc, after the Spaniard improved to 1m 19.979 on his next flier ahead of the soft tyre run.
Sainz however got impeded on his first flier at Turn One which forced him to abandon his initial lap as Leclerc posted 1m 19.771 to go top but Sainz rebounded to go quickest by 0.203s.
Leclerc proceeded to snatch top spot back briefly only for Sainz to deliver 1m 19.376 to go 0.111s faster, yet it was ultimately Leclerc who finished top as he posted 1m 18.978 in the 35th minute as Ferrari topped both Friday Practice sessions.
Verstappen however delivered a late lap to split Leclerc and Sainz with the reigning champion finishing 0.245s off Leclerc, whilst Sainz was third quickest ahead of Alonso, Perez, Ocon, Bottas, Norris, Pierre Gasly and Ricciardo.
The race simulation meanwhile saw a four-minute red flag after Lance Stroll lost his front left wheel brow over a kerb, whilst the drivers were also notified of slippery track conditions at the same time as the stoppage.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 18.978 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.245 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.398 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 0.559 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.680 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.864 |
| 7 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | + 1.077 |
| 8 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.122 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | + 1.164 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | + 1.225 |
| 11 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 1.234 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | + 1.446 |
| 13 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.543 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.633 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo | + 2.085 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 2.213 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 2.934 |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 2.996 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 3.329 |
| 20 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | No Time Set |