Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fastest in second practice for the Australian Grand Prix on Friday, ahead of world champion Max Verstappen, less than two days after surgery Carlos Sainz of the week was third. Leclerc’s best lap at Albert Park was 1 minute 17.277 seconds, 0.381 seconds ahead of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, who took pole position in Melbourne last year. Verstappen hit a curb late in first practice and damaged the floor of his car, meaning the team was still working on the issue as the second session began.

The Dutchman ended up being the last driver out after a 22-minute absence, and initially struggled to make progress on the medium tyres, as everyone else switched to softs.

But when he changed the tire, he started flying and almost missed the schedule.

The Red Bull ace won the first two races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but they were overshadowed by turmoil within the team.

The 26-year-old hopes to put off-track distractions behind him to break the record in Melbourne.

Verstappen is chasing a tenth consecutive victory to equal the record he set last year, while Red Bull are seeking a third consecutive victory after finishing 1-2 for the first time in team history.

Finishing third in the second practice session was a remarkable achievement for Ferrari driver Sainz, who underwent appendicitis-related surgery and missed the final race in Saudi Arabia.

There were concerns about how his health would fare in Australia, but he appears to have put to rest any concerns.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell.

Russell’s teammate and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton ultimately finished 18th, about 1.5 seconds behind Leclerc. He was heard on the team radio saying “something’s wrong.”

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was seventh, ahead of the other Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Lando, who was fastest in opening practice. Lando Norris.

RB rider Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top ten with less than a second to go.

Albon smashes

Under blue skies, when the light turned green, Valtteri Bottas and Perez took the lead out of the pits, with the Red Bull driver setting the pace.

But he was soon overtaken by Alonso and many others.

The clock kept going down and Stroll took the lead at the halfway mark.

Leclerc then took control of the race and Verstappen began an ominous climb up the leaderboard after switching to soft tyres, but the Dutchman was unable to overtake his rival.

In an eventful first practice session, Williams’ Alex Albon hit the wall at Turn 8.

This caused severe damage to the right side of his car and debris was strewn across the track. Albon was uninjured but did not play in FP2 as Williams assessed the carnage.

The track was the scene of numerous crashes last year, when just 12 riders finished the race, and there were several other incidents that served as a reminder of how dangerous the track can be.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)