Formula 1® set to headline bumper Friday with F2® and F3® debuts
Thursday, 30 March 2023
Five Australians will make their debut at Albert Park.
Day 2 of the FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2023 will see Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri and, the rest of the sport’s biggest names on the circuit, for the first time.
The Formula 1® action will kick off at 12:30 pm with the first 60-minute Practice session, followed at 4:00 pm by the second, the teams and engineers taking the second hour to work on the race day set-ups they will carry into Sunday.
After two 1-2 finishes in the opening races of the season, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez will be looking to continue their domination but there are plenty of signs that 2022 Albert Park victor Charles Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso are prepared to run with the Bulls at the 5.278km Melbourne circuit.
There will be plenty of other open-wheeler action to see as well. For the first time, the two main international ‘feeder’ series will feature on the program, with Formula 2® starting with a 45-minute Practice session at 10:00 am and Qualifying at 5:30 pm.
Fresh from a second place in the most recent race in Saudi Arabia, Queensland’s Jack Doohan will be looking for a strong result to launch into the weekend in his Invicta Virtuosi entry. Swiss rising star Ralph Boschung (Campos Racing) brings the points lead to Melbourne.
In
Formula 3®, there will be plenty to see as well. The drivers will take to the
circuit at 8:50 am for their first Practice session and at 2:00 pm for
Qualifying, with Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto and Spain’s Pepe Marti likely to
be at the front. Three Australians, Hugh Barter, Christian Mansell and Tommy
Smith, will fly the flag for the local drivers.
Supercars
will take to the track for their second race in the Beaurepaires Melbourne
SuperSprint, due to start at 2:50 pm. After taking his second win in a row on
Thursday afternoon, Shane van Gisbergen will start from pole position ahead
of four other Chevrolet Camaros, driven by Will Brown, Broc Feeney, Brodie
Kostecki and Mark Winterbottom.
There will also be more Porsche Carrera Cup action, with their second race for the Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup due to start at 6:25 pm. The drivers will be looking for a much less troubled day after Thursday’s race was stopped and ultimately abandoned after separate incidents, meaning that Jackson Walls, who led across the line before the red flag, does not get to keep an ‘official’ win.
