FP2: Leclerc breaks into the 1:18s to edge Verstappen

Charles Leclerc broke into the 1:18s to set the pace in Friday’s second practice in Melbourne, a quarter of a second up on Max Verstappen.

Leclerc clocked a fastest lap time of 1:18.978 around the revamped Albert Park circuit with its 14 corners, finishing the session 0.245s up on Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz, informed mid-session that he had a reprimand for his FP1 impeding, was third fastest.

#Charles16 is the first below 1:19 1:18.978 #FP2 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/sDqJLCoPdJ

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) April 8, 2022

Friday’s second practice began with a few spots of rain falling as Valtteri Bottas put in the first lap and Verstappen waited in his car, Red Bull working on set-up changes for the reigning World Champion. Another driver sitting in the pits was Sebastian Vettel with Aston Martin changing his power unit after his FP1 failure.

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As they did in today’s first session, McLaren led the early running with Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Lando Norris, but it didn’t last long before Leclerc hit the front with a 1:20.898 with Sainz second. The drivers were running the medium Pirelli tyres.

Sainz and Lance Stroll were noted by the stewards for impeding, although this time it was Stroll