Charles Leclerc laid down a marker in second practice for the 2025 Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix by setting the fastest time for Ferrari ahead of McLaren pair Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Leading positions
1 Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m16.439s
2 Piastri (McLaren) 1m16.563s
3 Norris (McLaren) 1m16.580s
4 Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) 1m16.784s
5 Hamilton (Ferrari) 1m16.859s
Leclerc was fastest on both the medium- and soft-tyre qualifying simulation runs that all teams undertook during the session as many drivers struggled to find significant gains on the softer C5 compound.
The Ferrari driver had a four-tenth advantage over team-mate Lewis Hamilton after the first set of runs and, though the switch to softer compounds reduced his advantage, he still ended the session 0.124 seconds faster than Piastri.
Leclerc's best time of 1m16.439s on softs represented a gain of 0.355s compared to his previous best on the mid-range C4 tyre.
Piastri, whose McLaren contract extension was announced earlier this week on the eve of his home F1 race, was a mere 0.017s faster than team-mate Lando Norris, who had set the best time in FP1.
The Ferraris and McLarens appeared to be fairly evenly matched on the long runs towards the end of the session when both were running mediums.
Racing Bulls enjoyed a competitive FP2 as its car appeared to have an easier time extracting pace from the soft tyre than most others, with Yuki Tsunoda spending some time at the top of the leaderboard and ending up 0.345s off Leclerc in fourth.
Rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar was an impressive sixth, within a quarter of a second of Tsunoda.
The Racing Bulls sandwiched Hamilton's Ferrari, the seven-time F1 champion ending the session a similar margin behind Leclerc (0.420s) as he had been after the first C4 tyre runs.
Max Verstappen improved to seventh as the qualifying simulation runs ended.
His 1m17.063s, on his sixth lap on softs, nevertheless left him 0.624s off Leclerc's best. Verstappen had aborted his previous attempt after a compromised entry to the first corner was followed by his RB21 slewing wide at Turn 3.
The defending champion fared significantly better than new team-mate Liam Lawson, though, who ended the session only 17th fastest and 1.201s from top spot.
Nico Hulkenberg had a wide moment at high speed through the Turn 6 gravel trap early in the session but snuck his Sauber up into eighth after a floor change had been completed, with the top 10 completed by Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and the leading Mercedes of George Russell.
The W16 had looked fast at the beginning of the session in Russell's hands as Mercedes opted to run on the harder C3 compound, something it elected to do with both Russell and team-mate Kimi Antonelli - who was marginally ahead of Lawson in 16th - on the long runs at the end of the session too.
FP1 standout Carlos Sainz was only 11th in FP2, with he and team-mate Alex Albon setting identical times, while Jack Doohan was marginally the faster of the Alpines in 14th and the last driver within a second of Leclerc.
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Haas's underwhelming start to the season opener continued in FP2.
Ollie Bearman failed to take to the track at all as Haas continued to repair his VF-25 following his crash in FP1, while Esteban Ocon was slowest of those who did complete a time - ending the session 1.595s slower than Leclerc and almost two tenths adrift of Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto at the back of the pack.
FP2 times
1) Leclerc 1m16.439s
2) Piastri +0.124s
3) Norris +0.141s
4) Tsunoda +0.345s
5) Hamilton +0.420s
6) Hadjar +0.580s
7) Verstappen +0.624s
8) Hulkenberg +0.722s
9) Stroll +0.840s
10) Russell +0.843s
11) Sainz +0.863s
12) Albon +0.863s
13) Alonso +0.891s
14) Doohan +0.955s
15) Gasly +1.054s
16) Antonelli +1.195s
17) Lawson +1.201s
18) Bortoleto +1.408s
19) Ocon +1.595s
20) Bearman no time
