Piastri Lights Up Melbourne Night to Lead FP2 at Australian Grand Prix

Sports

Oscar Piastri delighted the home crowd by setting the fastest time in the second practice session of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, putting McLaren at the top of the timesheets on Friday evening.

The Australian driver produced a strong lap of 1:19.729 on soft tyres midway through the session, finishing 0.214 seconds ahead of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, with Antonelli’s teammate George Russell taking third place.

Piastri’s performance marked a major turnaround after a difficult opening practice earlier in the day where he experienced technical issues. In front of his home fans, the McLaren driver responded with an impressive lap that remained unbeaten until the chequered flag, giving McLaren a promising start to the new season.

Mercedes showed strong pace throughout the session, with both Antonelli and Russell consistently near the top of the timing screens. The pair ended the session just a few tenths behind Piastri, suggesting the Silver Arrows could be one of McLaren’s main challengers heading into qualifying.

Ferrari also looked competitive with Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth, only one thousandth of a second behind Russell, while teammate Charles Leclerc placed fifth. The close gap among the top five highlighted how tightly matched the leading teams appear early in the weekend.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen finished sixth for Red Bull after a session that included a brief off track moment which caused minor damage to his car. Despite the setback, the Dutch driver was still within a few tenths of the leaders and remains firmly in the fight as the weekend develops.

Defending champion Lando Norris ended the session in seventh place for McLaren after earlier gearbox issues limited his running in the first practice session. Rookie Arvid Lindblad impressed again for Racing Bulls by finishing eighth, while Isack Hadjar and Esteban Ocon completed the top ten.

Elsewhere in the session, teams focused heavily on race simulations and tyre data as temperatures dropped around the Albert Park street circuit. Engineers used the longer runs to evaluate tyre degradation and car balance under race conditions, crucial information ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix.

With Piastri topping FP2 and Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull all showing competitive pace, the opening day of the 2026 season has already produced an intriguing battle among the sport’s top teams. Qualifying is expected to be extremely close as the drivers continue to push their new machines to the limit in Melbourne.