Charles Leclerc set the overall pace in the afternoon practice session ahead of Max Verstappen at the end of the first day of F1 running for the Australian Grand Prix.
Leclerc’s quickest time of a 1’18.978 saw him go a quarter of a second faster than Max Verstappen’s best lap time in the Red Bull. Carlos Sainz Jnr was third fastest in the second Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso fourth for Alpine.
The clouds had drifted over the Albert Park circuit between the end of first practice and the start of the afternoon session. Teams took to the track on the medium tyres for some early data in the slightly cooler afternoon conditions.
After Lance Stroll was summoned to the stewards and cleared of impeding Kevin Magnussen in first practice, Stroll was again involved in an incident at the penultimate corner when Carlos Sainz Jnr narrowly avoided hitting the Aston Martin at the apex of turn 13 on a flying lap. The incident will be investigated by the stewards after the session.
Lewis Hamilton…