The dominant team of the world championship so far, Ferrari, also started the Australian Grand Prix in the lead, with a double led by Carlos Sainz in FP1 and with Leclerc in the lead in FP2, in difficult conditions.
The Albert Park track, modified to create more spectacle in terms of overtaking and speed, was quite a challenge for the drivers, who suffered from the lack of grip and the new lines, in addition to the complications that the new 2022 cars entail. , heavier.
Despite not having to regret accidents, it was a day interrupted both in the first and in the second session, with up to three red flags: one due to a breakdown in Vettel’s Mercedes engine and two due to parts that remained on the asphalt after falling off the single-seaters when passing abruptly over curbs, in FP1 for Sergio Pérez’s Red Bull and in FP2 for Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin .
Mercedes continues with its problems of porpoising and lack of rhythm, and its drivers were defeated in the statements. Lewis Hamilton was seventh in FP1 but none of his drivers cracked the top 10 in the second session.
Alonso, for his part, has reason to smile after this Friday session in Australia, where he finished fourth fastest, even ahead of Checo Pérez in Free Practice 2.
F1 Australian GP 2022 Free Practice 1 Results: Ferrari Double with Sainz at the helm
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
24 | 1’19,806 | ||
| 2 |  Charles Leclerc |
|
21 | 1’20.377 | 0.571 | 0.571 |
| 3 |  Sergio Perez |
 |
twenty | 1’20,399 | 0.593 | 0.022 |
| 4 |  Max Verstappen |
 |
22 | 1’20.626 | 0.820 | 0.227 |
| 5 |  Lando Norris |
 |
22 | 1’20.878 | 1.072 | 0.252 |
| 6 |  Esteban Ocon |
 |
27 | 1’21.004 | 1.198 | 0.126 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
26 | 1’21.027 | 1.221 | 0.023 |
| 8 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
23 | 1’21.155 | 1.349 | 0.128 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso |
|
21 | 1’21.229 | 1.423 | 0.074 |
| 10 |  Valtteri Bottas |
 |
23 | 1’21.247 | 1.441 | 0.018 |
| 11 11 |  Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
26 | 1’21.289 | 1.483 | 0.042 |
| 12 | George Russell |
 |
26 | 1’21.457 | 1.651 | 0.168 |
| 13 |  Sebastian Vettel |
 |
18 | 1’21.661 | 1.855 | 0.204 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
26 | 1’21.701 | 1,895 | 0.040 |
| 15 |  Guanyu Zhou |
 |
twenty one | 1’21.821 | 2.015 | 0.120 |
| 16 |  Lance Stroll |
 |
24 | 1’21.869 | 2.063 | 0.048 |
| 17 |  Alexander Albon |
 |
25 | 1’22.754 | 2.948 | 0.885 |
| 18 |  Kevin Magnussen |
 |
18 | 1’23.186 | 3.380 | 0.432 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi |
 |
25 | 1’23.924 | 4.118 | 0.738 |
| 20 | Mick Schumacher |
 |
15 | 1’24.349 | 4.543 | 0.425 |
| see results | ||||||
What happened in practice 1 on Friday at the 2022 F1 Australian GP?
At the start of the first session, Verstappen set the bar at 1m21.625s, using soft tires while the rest tried mediums and hards, then lowered his times to 1m21.140s and 1m20.909s as the track began to improve. Later, a piece came off the Red Bull of his teammate Sergio Pérez after a sudden step on a piano, which caused a brief red flag after 21 minutes of activity.
Max Verstappen went out again on softs, lowering his time to 1m20.857s. Leclerc then stole the top spot from him with a 1m20.825s.
Verstappen reclaimed the top spot with a time of 1m20.377s before Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz gave Ferrari a brace. The Spaniard was first there with a 1:20.32s, just 0.052s ahead of his teammate. Sainz then improved his time to 1m19.806s, more than half a second ahead of the rest, but nearly lost control of the car on the exit of Turn 2 in the closing minutes of the session.
Leclerc’s most frenetic moment came at Turn 1 (top article photo) when he visited the gravel after a pitstop practice in the pitlane and then suffered another excursion at Turn 13 on his final lap.
Pérez placed third at the end, half a second behind Sainz, with Verstappen fourth a further two tenths away, ahead of Lando Norris ( McLaren ), Esteban Ocon ( Alpine ) and Lewis Hamilton ( Mercedes ).
Kevin Magnussen had a brief run off the track at turn 3 in his Haas , but was able to continue. Fernando Alonso suffered a quick spin and slipped into the top 10 at the last minute after testing much of the session on hard tyres. For his part, Sebastian Vettel’s first day back with Aston Martin after overcoming COVID-19 ended in a cloud of smoke that caused a second red flag .
Vettel’s lap back down the pitlane on a scooter was investigated by the FIA, but the driver claims he had permission from a stewards.
F1 Australian GP 2022 Free Practice 2 Results: Leclerc beats Verstappen and Sainz
| Cla | Pilot | laps | Weather | Difference | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc |
 |
27 | 1’18.978 | ||
| 2 | Max Verstappen |
 |
22 | 1’19.223 | 0.245 | 0.245 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz Jr. |
 |
27 | 1’19,376 | 0.398 | 0.153 |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso |
 |
22 | 1’19.537 | 0.559 | 0.161 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez |
|
twenty | 1’19,658 | 0.680 | 0.121 |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon |
 |
25 | 1’19.842 | 0.864 | 0.184 |
| 7 | Valtteri Bottas |
|
25 | 1’20.055 | 1.077 | 0.213 |
| 8 | Lando Norris |
 |
24 | 1’20.100 | 1.122 | 0.045 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly |
 |
27 | 1’20.142 | 1,164 | 0.042 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo |
 |
24 | 1’20.203 | 1.225 | 0.061 |
| 11 | George Russell |
 |
25 | 1’20.212 | 1.234 | 0.009 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda |
 |
30 | 1’20.424 | 1.446 | 0.212 |
| 13 | Lewis Hamilton |
 |
23 | 1’20.521 | 1.543 | 0.097 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll |
 |
28 | 1’20.611 | 1.633 | 0.090 |
| 15 | Guanyu Zhou |
 |
twenty three | 1’21.063 | 2.085 | 0.452 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen |
 |
23 | 1’21.191 | 2.213 | 0.128 |
| 17 | Alexander Albon |
 |
28 | 1’21.912 | 2.934 | 0.721 |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher |
 |
22 | 1’21.974 | 2.996 | 0.062 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi |
 |
24 | 1’22.307 | 3.329 | 0.333 |
| 20 | Sebastian Vettel |
|
0 | |||
| see results | ||||||
What happened in FP2 on Friday at the 2022 F1 Australian GP?
The second session seemed like a carbon copy of the end of the first, when Carlos Sainz led a Ferrari one-two in the first part of FP2, setting the initial pace with a time of 1:19.979.
Sainz and Leclerc began exchanging the top spot in the timesheets after switching to soft tires 20 minutes into practice, with the two Ferrari drivers time and time again finding improvements to stay clear of the chasing pack.
After the 40-minute mark, Leclerc got even better with the F1-75 , lapping at Albert Park in 1m18.978s to confirm his presence at the top of the table.
Verstappen managed to squeeze between the two Ferraris in his next stint on soft tyres, but still finished almost a quarter of a second behind Leclerc after losing some of his time in the third sector.
The session was red-flagged with just over 10 minutes to go after Lance Stroll lost some of the bodywork of his Aston Martin after going over a curb, but the track was soon cleared to allow all pilots will complete a final stint.
In the end, Leclerc’s time was not going to be beaten by anyone, and the Bahrain GP winner finished Friday’s day comfortably in pole position ahead of reigning champion Verstappen and his Ferrari team-mate Sainz.
Alonso finished an impressive fourth in the Alpine, with Ocon backing up his team-mate’s performance in sixth, behind Perez’s second Red Bull.
Mercedes failed to break into the top 10, with Russell 11th and Hamilton finishing further back in 13th.
Vettel spent all of FP2 in the pits as the Aston Martin team worked on changing his car’s Mercedes engine.
