Charles Leclerc fastest in Australian Grand Prix practice in front of record crowd
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fastest on Friday at the Australian Grand Prix as fans set a new attendance record ahead of the sold-out weekend.
The Scuderia completed a fast program in the middle of Free Practice 2, with times falling as both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc switched to the soft tyre.
Charles Leclerc on track at Albert Park on Friday. (Scuderia Ferrari)
Leclerc's time of 1:18.978 was the fastest of the day, just over two tenths of a second ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Despite setting the fastest lap of the day, the Monegasque driver said he had struggled to set up the car.
"For me, today was a bit of a harder Friday," said Leclerc.
"FP1 was a bit tricky, I improved in terms of driving in FP2, but there is still quite a bit of work to do."
"I don’t think that anyone really put their lap together."
"Qualifying is tomorrow, when hopefully we’ll have a good run."
"Let’s push!"
Max Verstappen on Friday. (Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool)
Verstappen split the Ferraris in FP2, finishing ahead of Carlos Sainz.
The world champion had also struggled to find an optimal setup during the day, but says he was able to find a balance by the end of the afternoon running.
"Today has been quite positive, the grip on track was good and the bumps have definitely improved," said Verstappen. "It’s a bit smoother and it makes the track nicer as well because you can actually attack the corners a bit more, I enjoyed my laps today."
"I think in FP1 and at the beginning of FP2 we were lacking a bit of balance, then for the final run we changed the car around a little bit and I felt a lot happier."
"We are still a tiny bit off Ferrari, but I think this weekend we can maybe make it a little bit closer."
"In the long run I think everything worked well, so I am happy about that, and we’ve made some good improvements today."
"We are heading in a good direction and we’ll try to build from there tomorrow.”
Day two of the grand prix saw an estimated attendance of 112,466, smashing the previous Friday record of 84,500 set in 2019.
Drivers will return for a final practice session on Saturday before qualifying at 4pm AEST ahead of the grand prix on Sunday.
