‘Feels pretty good’: Piastri tears up home track to be among fastest, Charles LeClerc tops times
If practice really does make perfect, then Oscar Piastri has the ideal shot at finally ending Australia’s long drought at the Melbourne Grand Prix. Find out why inside.
If practice really does make perfect, then Oscar Piastri has the ideal shot at finally ending Australia’s long drought at the Melbourne Grand Prix.
No-one gets any trophies or championship points for doing well in practice but Piastri’s performance in Friday’s test run was so impressive that he has put himself right in the mix to compete for the ultimate prize at Albert Park.
“There’s still a few things to try and iron out to make the car feel a bit nicer but I think the underlying pace seems strong, so I’m pretty happy with the day’s work,” Piastri said.
Even in a sport where drivers rarely blow their own trumpet for fear they might jinx themselves, that comment from Piastri could qualify for the understatement of the week.
Piastri wasn’t just good, he was clam and precise, lighting up the Albert Park street circuit with the second fastest time of the day, lapping the track he grew up near as a kid in 1:16.563.
The only driver who went fractionally quicker was Charles Leclerc, who rang the neck out of his Ferrari to pip Piastri by just 0.124 to lay down his challenge. Importantly, the Australian was ahead of his main championship rivals.
His McLaren teammate Lando Norris, the pre-season favourite for this year’s title, was third overall, while Max Verstappen, who has won the last four championships was seventh in his Red Bull.
The real test for Piastri will come in Saturday’s qualifying session, set to take place in scorching heat, then Sunday’s race, which is forecast to be wet and wild, so the 23-year-old wasn’t getting carried away with his great start.
“I think it’s going to be pretty different for the next two days,” he said. “So how much today means we don’t know, but it feels pretty good.”
Tipped as a future F1 world champion after winning the F3 and F2 championships and making a brilliant start to his first two seasons in motorsport’s premier category, Piastri has made no secret of his lofty ambitions for 2025.
The 23-year-old believes he can compete for the drivers’ title and has made no secret he would love nothing more than to win in Melbourne as well as becoming the first Australian to officially finish on the podium in a home Grand Prix.
“It’s hard to say. The weather is going to be pretty different on Sunday and it’s going to throw some spanners in the works, but I think the underlying pace of the car seems strong,” he said.
“Ferrari looks pretty quick and Mercedes at other points as well.
“So yeah, I think things are looking good, but we don’t want to just try and aim for the podium. We want to aim for the top.”
Piastri has already picked up two big prizes in his first two seasons in F1 - named rookie of the year in 2023 then helping McLaren win the constructors’ crown in 2024 - and his team principal Zak Brown was upbeat about the way things were unfolding.
“We’re doing our thing, the cars look strong. The drivers are comfortable,” he said.
“I still think we can improve the car. So far so good.
“One step at a time but we are happy.”
Australia’s Jack Doohan also made an impressive start at Albert Park.
The son of motorcycling legend Mick Doohan, Jack posted the 14th best lap on the timesheets, edging out his more experienced Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly.
“My first few laps in front of my home crowd were amazing, lots of good emotions which I will be channelling through the whole weekend,” Doohan said.
“(Friday) was a good day of learning across the two sessions, we are trying lots of different things to build out our balance and make sure we are in a good place for (Saturday).
“The car ran well in both sessions and we were able to maximise our running with the conditions that we faced.”
Doohan made his F1 debut in the final round at Abu Dhabi last year but is already under pressure to retain his seat after Alpine signed Argentina’s Franco Colapinto as a reserve driver.
Among the drivers Doohan finished ahead of was Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, a personal favourite of Helmut Marko, the Austrian energy drink maker’s trash talking boss.
Marko labelled Doohan a ‘C-Grade’ driver, predicting he won’t survive the season, but Piastri has since come out in support of his countryman, saying: “It’s always nice to have a fellow Aussie on the grid and I think Jack very much deserves it.”
Relive Friday’s F1 action below.
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