By Joe Murphy
Charles Leclerc showed the Ferrari has pace around this circuit, as did Max Verstappen in the first and practice sessions of the day, as the Ferrari man also enjoyed finishing Fridays action as P1 as time was called on driving for the day.
In a first session dominated by Alex Albon’s huge collision with the wall, Max had his run cut severely short due to issues with his car’s floor, something Lewis Hamilton also complained about.
Albon had the standout moment, however. He lost control on the exit of the Turn Six and smashed into the wall at the entry to Turn Eight. Thankfully, he managed to walk away with only minor injuries and will be find to race. His car, suffered more in comparison. He was unlucky, but many drivers nearly nearly suffered the same fate by running wider into corners than advisable. Good prospects of a Safety Car on Sunday, it seems. For Albon, his driving for Friday was over from that moment on.
Showing even more pace was a British driver as McLaren’s Lando Norris was fastest from Verstappen himself. The current World Champion was just 0.018 seconds behind Norris with his final lap of the session. Russell was in third after a strong last ditch effort. Behind the Brit, the aforementioned Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth fastest, ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Lewis Hamilton could only manage P9, complaining over team radio about an apparent floor problem.
Verstappen’s near-incident at Turn 10 was smaller in comparison to those suffered by Fernando Alonso, George Russell and Valtteri Bottas during the same session.
Alonso ran wide at Turn 10 and damaged his floor, Russell had a huge snap on entry to Turn Nine but just about managed to rescue the car by cutting the corner. Meanwhile the Sauber of Bottas spun but managed to not make contact with any barrier or wall.
Finally, it was a good return for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Fresh after a brief respite from the sport after missing the last race in Saudi Arabia for an appendix operation, he didn’t miss a step and managed a respectable eighth in session ahead of Hamilton and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who completed the top ten at the end of the first session in Australia.
Sainz then managed P3 as Ferrari continued to show off their strength at this circuit. Leclerc finished P1 ahead of Verstappen, with Lance Stroll and George Russell also putting in strong performances to cap a good day for their respective side of the garages.
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