As Lewis Hamilton finished 8th ahead of his Ferrari qualifying debut, Oscar Piastri topped McLaren’s final practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
The first team appeared to be in close sync in their final 60 minutes of practice in the opening round of the Formula 1 season, but it was piastry and it was the first time they had broken through the timesheet at 1:15.921.
This left the Australians out Mercedes’ George Russell in just 0.039 seconds.
Piastri’s teammate Randnoris also had a strong pace, but was only 10th after bailing out in the final sector of the rap, which is set to put him in at least the top three.
Ferrari appeared on Friday as McLaren’s most likely challenger, but finished 0.267 seconds from Piastri after Friday’s pacesetter Leclerc managed only the fourth and complained of too many oversteer.
Hamilton was less vocal than team radio, but it appeared to be experiencing a similar struggle with the first sector error, blowing away the final qualifying simulation at the end of the session.
Italian teenager Andrea Kimi Antoneri – replacing Hamilton at Mercedes after his blockbuster to Ferrari – produced a solid show to claim the fifth.
Williams solidified his position as a midfield team most likely to challenge the established top four teams in qualifying as Carlos Sainz pushed teammate Alex Albon to sixth place.
Verstappen, chasing the fifth consecutive driver title, has been struggling to show significant improvements on Friday, but his new teammate Liam Lawson was on track with just two laps before power unit issues ended the session early.
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Craig Slater concludes with the best action you may have missed from Friday’s practice at Australia’s Grand Prix.
British rookie Oliver Bearman has continued his first full season of Formula 1 nightmare for days as his second accident.
After hurting the car with a big crash in the opening session, Bareman missed his second practice on Friday, this time dipping the wheels into the grass with an 11-turn approach before spinning his heartth into gravel traps.
The car appears to avoid any major damage from the incident and should be ready for qualifying, but Bearman was able to participate in just 40 minutes of the three-hour practice.
Sky Sports F1 Live Australia Grand Prix Schedule
Saturday, March 15th
- 4.15am: Australia’s GP Qualifying Build-Up*
- 5am: Australian Grand Prix Qualifiers*
- 7am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
7:30am: Australian GP Qualifying Replay* (9am on Sky Showcase) - 9.55pm: F3 Functional Race*
Sunday, March 16th
- 12.25am: F2 Functional Race*
- 2:30am: Australian GP Build-Up: Grand Prix Sunday*
- 4am: Australian Grand Prix*
- 6am: Australia’s GP Response: Checkered Flag*
- 7am: Ted’s Notebook*
- 7:05am: Australia’s GP race replay
- 10am: Australia’s GP highlights (also available in the Sky Showcase)
- 7pm: Villeneuve Pironi – The Tragedy of Racing’s Untold
*Sky Sports Main Event
Watch live all 24 race weekends from the 2025 Formula 1 season Sky Sports F1We will start with the Australian Grand Prix from March 14th to 16th. Stream Sky Sports Now – No Contract, Cancel Anytime
