FP2: Piastri beats Antonelli and Russell to top spot during second practice in Australia

Oscar Piastri finished the first day of running in Australia at the top of the timesheets, beating the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in another eventful hour.

After FP1 saw some drivers face teething problems, a small group were ready to go at the pit lane exit for the day's second practice session, including reigning World Champion Lando Norris, who missed a sizable chunk of the opening session due to precautionary gearbox checks.

In the opening minutes, Mercedes’ Russell clipped the Racing Bulls car of rookie Arvid Lindblad in a pit lane tussle, before Franco Colapinto was seen slowing dramatically on track, forcing Lewis Hamilton into last-minute evasive action. Both clashes were noted by the stewards and will be investigated after the session.

There were more issues to come in the pit lane as Max Verstappen found himself stuck after stalling the RB22, leading to a rescue mission to wheel him back to the garage to reset ahead of any flying laps.

In contrast to FP1, some drivers bolted on hard tyres to gather data ahead of Sunday’s 58-lap race, with the Mercedes pair of Antonelli and Russell sandwiching Hamilton after the first round of timed efforts.

Following a suspected power unit issue earlier in the day, Fernando Alonso made his way onto the circuit 15 minutes in to drive a slow out lap before returning to the pits without setting a time. His team mate Lance Stroll, meanwhile, was able to complete a lap but remained at the tail end of the order.

Joining the Aston Martin pair on the red-walled soft tyres was Russell, who immediately blew leader Piastri’s time out of the water to set the quickest time of the day so far, beating Charles Leclerc’s FP1 effort by over two-tenths.

Mercedes continued to impress after their low-key FP1 showing, with Antonelli becoming the first driver to breach the 1m 19s bracket just before the halfway point of the hour. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, however, as Russell locked up and rattled over the gravel at Turn 3 – an error which Hamilton replicated later in the session.

As home hero Piastri reclaimed P1, the expected top four teams occupied the first eight slots in the timings, with the exception of Lindblad who made it clear that his P5-worthy pace in FP1 was not a fluke.

With 10 minutes remaining, Verstappen suffered a late snap of oversteer at high speed at Turn 10, damaging the floor as he took a trip through the gravel. He wasn’t the only one with a late problem as both Stroll and Williams’ Carlos Sainz returned to the pits after limited running due to unknown issues.

Joining in on the frustration was Sergio Perez, who brought out a Virtual Safety Car as he stopped at the side of the circuit with a suspected hydraulic issue – the Cadillac driver had already missed the majority of the session due to a sensor fault, resulting in him failing to set a representative time.

As the chequered flag fell, Piastri held on to top spot with a time of 1m 19.729s, maintaining his two-tenths buffer over the lead Mercedes of Antonelli. Russell was close behind in third place, with Hamilton just 0.001s adrift of his former team mate, who was noted for a practice start infringement.

Leclerc followed as the fifth fastest ahead of Verstappen, before a larger gap opened up to Norris in P7. Lindblad, Isack Hadjar and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10 of FP2, while the second Haas of Ollie Bearman took P11.

Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg placed 12th from Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly. After running just 10 laps, Sainz ended the session in P17, narrowly leading Colapinto and Valtteri Bottas. The Aston Martin pair of Alonso and Stroll wound up P20 and P21, with Perez last after completing two laps.

The drivers and teams now have an evening to themselves to review the crucial data gathered over the opening sessions of 2026 ahead of Free Practice 3, which gets underway at 1230 local time on Saturday.