Piastri shines in the rain

It was a day of mixed results for the Australian Internationals in the FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2023, with Oscar Piastri solid in his first laps in a racing car on home soil.

The Melbourne driver was one of the Formula 1® drivers most affected by the wet track in the second session. In the first, dry session he completed 22 laps and was 12^th fastest, 0.987sec behind Max Verstappen, who topped the times. His 1m19.777sec lap put him 0.24sec behind McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who was seventh fastest.

In the second session, Piastri was very busy; he managed to complete a session-high 24 laps, more than any other driver in the session. His best time of 1m20.380sec was 1.493sec behind the best time of the session, set by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, and was 0.21sec behind teammate Norris, who was six spots ahead of the rookie in eighth place.

After leading the way in the opening dry Practice session, Jack Doohan was one of the stars early in Qualifying in Formula 2®. Qualifying was held on a wet track and the Queenslander was in contention in the opening half of the session, which was interrupted by a red flag.

As the pace picked up after hostilities resumed he struggled and his Virtuosi Racing entry will start Saturday’s race from 15^th on the grid.

In the Qualifying session for the two Formula 3® races none of the three Australian drivers made the top 10. Christian Mansell was the best of them in 13^th place, with his Campos Racing teammate Hugh Barter in 23^rd and Tommy Smith (Van Amersfoort Racing) back in 28^th.