Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fastest in Friday Practice for 2024 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia.
Leclerc finished fourth in a tight FP1 before he comfortably finished quickest in FP2 whilst championship leader, Max Verstappen bounced back from floor damage to end the day second fastest.
Now, here is a roundup of all the action across Friday Practice sessions for 2024 Australian Grand Prix.
FP1
Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas were first out on track ahead of local hero – Oscar Piastri, as the Aussie soon set the benchmark time of 1m 21.357 only to be displaced by Lewis Hamilton, Lance Stroll and Lando Norris amongst other drivers.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in the ninth minute was the first driver to dip below the 80-second barrier with 1m 19.977 on the soft tyre, before Stroll on medium tyre then Charles Leclerc on the soft tyre displaced the Mexican.
Perez responded with 1m 19.238 in the 13th minute but Leclerc barely one minute later went 0.128s quicker, but the pair were usurped by Max Verstappen’s 1m 18.670 in the 16th minute.
Attention soon switched to soft-tyre Qualifying simulations as Norris posted 1m 18.564 in the 29th minute to head Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda at the half-way mark of the session.
Norris’ rivals soon struggled to match his lap time on their Qualifying simulations, as Leclerc fell 0.035s shy before a crash for Alex Albon brought out the red flags with 19 minutes left, after the British-Thai driver crashed on exit of Turn 6 into Turn 7 before he stopped at Turn 8.
The incident caused severe damage to the car and ruled Albon out of FP2.
The session resumed after a 11-minute delay but nobody could beat Norris’ lap time at the checkered flag as he headed Verstappen, George Russell, Leclerc, Tsunoda and Perez, with the top six split by 0.078s.
Stroll finished seventh-fastest ahead of Carlos Sainz who returned following his appendix surgery in Saudi Arabia, whilst Hamilton and Piastri rounded out the top ten.
Daniel Ricciardo, Albon, Esteban Ocon and Bottas were the only drivers to set their fastest laps on the medium tyre, unlike everyone else who achieved their best lap times on the soft tyre.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 18.564 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.018 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.033 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.035 |
| 5 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.057 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.078 |
| 7 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.103 |
| 8 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.122 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.207 |
| 10 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.354 |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 0.710 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.879 |
| 13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.925 |
| 14 | Logan Sargeant | Williams | + 0.955 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.997 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.040 |
| 17 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.058 |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.152 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Kick Sauber | + 1.425 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | + 1.450 |
FP2
Bottas was first out on track as the majority of the field ran their opening stints on the medium tyres, and set a benchmark 1m 21.787 which was quickly beaten by several drivers including Alonso who was fastest in the opening ten minutes with 1m 18.805 set in the eighth minute.
Perez then Norris further lowered the benchmark but Leclerc topped the opening stint with 1m 17.936 ahead of the Brit plus Sainz, whilst floor damage kept Verstappen in his garage.
Alonso was first out for the representative Qualifying simulations but it was his teammate – Stroll who set the pace with 1m 17.822 just 0.090s ahead of the Spaniard, after Alonso improved on his second flying lap.
Leclerc moved back top in the 31st minute with 1m 17.423 but six minutes later, he found 0.146s to finish quickest with 1m 17.277, whilst Verstappen sacrificed his race simulation to do a soft-tyre Qualifying simulation as he finished 0.381s down in second ahead of Sainz.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 17.277 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.381 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.430 |
| 4 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.545 |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.635 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.674 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.800 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.813 |
| 9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.878 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.911 |
| 11 | Guanyu Zhou | Kick Sauber | + 1.144 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 1.257 |
| 13 | Logan Sargeant | William | + 1.301 |
| 14 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | + 1.308 |
| 15 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.414 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.425 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.428 |
| 18 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 1.557 |
| 19 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.998 |
| DNS | Alex Albon | Williams | Chassis |
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