Piastri keeps his Friday clean, leading the Australian charge on Friday
Phil Branagan
Friday, 22 March 2024
It is looking like Oscar Piastri, and Daniel Ricciardo will have to wait until Sunday to show their best form in the FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2024 after an action-packed day of Practice at Albert Park.
Piastri goes into the weekend placed fifth in the World Drivers Championship.
The McLaren-Mercedes's form suggests that the Melbourne driver is focussed on the 58-lap race rather than fighting the Red Bulls and Ferraris for pole
position.
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Both Piastri and RB-Honda driver Daniel Ricciardo played the long game on Friday.
The speed and consistency of both cars will make fans of the drivers hopeful that there will be strong finishes in the races themselves.
While many drivers around them took to the kerbs or the grass – including World Champion Max Verstappen – the local lads kept their noses and cars clean.
Piastri finished the afternoon session in seventh but just 0.8sec shy of the best time, set by Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. Ricciardo was back in 12th place but still just 1.25sec off the best time.
In Formula 3®, the best of the Australian drivers was Christian Mansell, who comes to Albert Park placed third in the championship points.
Mansell qualified seventh on Friday in his ART Grand Prix entry, while Tommy Smith had a troubled session and will start from P30 in his Van Amersfoort Racing car.
