by F1 correspondent Michael Butterworth

MELBOURNE, March 14 (Xinhua) -- Ferrari's Charles Leclerc topped the timesheet in Friday's second practice for the 2025 F1 Australian Grand Prix, with the McLarens taking second and third spots.

A largely incident-free session saw Leclerc emerge fastest with a time of 1:16.439, 0.124s faster than home favorite Oscar Piastri, who edged Lando Norris by 0.013s.

Ferrari and McLaren both looked good on long runs, suggesting that they will be the two teams fighting it out for victory in Sunday's race. However, with heavy rain set to fall when the lights go out, a lot of the data teams have collected over Friday's two sessions may turn out to be irrelevant.

Fourth fastest in FP2 was Yuki Tsunoda, with rookie teammate Isack Hadjar sixth on a good afternoon for Racing Bulls. Tsunoda and Hadjar were quicker than both Red Bulls, with Max Verstappen seventh and Liam Lawson only 17th, after a tricky session in which the New Zealander seemingly continued to struggle with handling issues.

Lewis Hamilton finished the session fifth in the second Ferrari, with the Briton having been shaded by Leclerc across both Friday's sessions.

Nico Hulkenberg was an impressive eighth on his first weekend since returning to Sauber, while Mercedes' indifferent Melbourne form continued, with George Russell tenth and Kimi Antonelli 16th.

Having finished second in FP1, Williams' Carlos Sainz slipped to ninth in the afternoon session, but the field spread looks very small, with less than one second separating Leclerc from Alpine's Jack Doohan in 14th.

Propping up the timesheet was Ollie Bearman, who was unable to venture out on track after having damaged his Haas in a crash during FP1. Haas elected to change both the gearbox and power unit in the Briton's car, meaning Bearman faces a grid penalty for Sunday's race and will likely start at the back. Enditem

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