Piastri surges to the top in second Melbourne practice
Phil Branagan
Friday, 6 March 2026
The home hero ignited the Albert Park crowd by setting the fastest time of the session, outpacing the field by over two-tenths of a second.
Australian star Oscar Piastri has topped the times in the second practice session at the FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2026. The local hero jumped to the top of the timing screens halfway through the one-hour session.
He sped around the 5.28km Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit in 1m19.729s. That time put Piastri 0.214s clear of the opposition, marking him as a major contender for Saturday’s qualifying.
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It was a significant result for McLaren, which had previously been shaded for speed by Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG. The session also gave the Australian an early upper hand over teammate Lando Norris.
The World Champion finished back in seventh place. Norris ended the hour just over a second behind the Melbourne-born driver.
Piastri finished 0.2s clear of the Mercedes-AMG duo, led by Kimi Antonelli. The young Italian enjoyed a clean run, while teammate George Russell faced a more difficult afternoon.
Russell earned a post-session appointment with the Stewards following two incidents. These included an unauthorized practice start and pitlane contact that damaged his front wing.
Lewis Hamilton was the quicker of the two Ferraris this time around. He finished a quarter-second clear of teammate Charles Leclerc, with both focused on long-run pace.
Max Verstappen was sixth fastest despite a tricky session plagued by technical issues. His new Red Bull Power Trains unit stopped before he even left the pit lane.
Later, the four-time World Champion damaged his floor after a 200kmh trip through the gravel at Turn 10. Arvid Lindblad impressed again, putting his Racing Bulls on par with the senior Red Bull team.
The 18-year-old Brit edged out the man he replaced, Isack Hadjar. The session began with drama when Franco Colapinto appeared to drop into neutral on the pit straight.
The incident forced Hamilton to take evasive action to avoid a high-speed collision. It was a tough session for Sergio Perez in his return to the cockpit.
His Cadillac rolled to a halt with just over five minutes remaining. Aston Martin continued to struggle, with Fernando Alonso losing early track time to adjustments.
Lance Stroll completed only 13 laps during the hour. His best effort was six seconds off the pace set by Piastri.
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