FERRARI FRIDAY

A monster crowd of over 125,000 turned out on Friday to see a full day of F1 and support categories at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix.

What they witnessed was a powerful demonstration of ‘Ferrari Friday’, with a healthy dose of ‘Majestic McLaren.’

Throw in some surprising performances from Racing Bulls, and Williams too in Practice 1, and fans left happy in anticipation of a competitive race on Sunday.

Race.news was stationed at Turn 5 to witness the cars in the two 60-minute F1 sessions through the ultra-fast right-hander onto Albert Road. This vantage point started to show which cars were dialling into the challenging Albert Park layout and those who ‘could do better.’

The complex at the city end of the track sees Turns 3, 4, and 5 all negotiated in quick succession. The exit of Turn 5 often sucks cars in and the unforgiving walls on both sides have caught many out.

On entry to the Turn 5 right-hander, drivers have the painted white line and low-profile green-and-gold kerb which the top runners use lap after lap.

In P1 it was clear that the top drivers and teams – McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and the quick new Willians, in particular with Carlos Sainz, were able to tip the car in and not only cross the white line but run the car on the kerb and obtain a faster run up to Turn 6.

Others were indifferent. On many laps, the likes of Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson and rookie Isack Hadjar were aggressive but lacked consistency. Hadjar was a stand-out and the pick of the rookies for Race.news on Friday.

The Alpine duo rarely tackled the kerb, and the rather strangely-liveried Strike Saubers were visibly battling understeer and barely close to even the white line.

Hass had a strange day with Ollie Bearman trashing his car in P1 and then Hulkenberg coming from the clouds to finish P8. The car did not look settled through Turn 5.

Lando Norris was quickest in P1 with a brilliant Sainz in second and the ever-present Charles Leclerc in third with the #16 Ferrari.

Aussie fans were happy by lunchtime with Oscar Piastri in fourth and Jack Doohan in thirteenth, comfortably in front of Pierre Gasly in somewhat of a surprise.

The afternoon session saw everyone doing Qualifying simulations on the soft C5-compound Pirelli tyre, and the times tumbled.

Charles Leclerc peeled a full second of his P1 time to finish quickest for the day. The Ferrari was silky smooth through T3, 4 and 5, and as great drivers can achieve, he did not look the quickest. A trait of the great Alain Prost.

McLaren again was quick and Piastri and Norris attacked the complex with precision on the soft rubber to look every bit as fast as the time sheets recorded.

So where was Max Verstappen? After some long runs in P1, he managed only twenty-two laps in P2, the lowest of any of the runners. Although finishing in seventh, the World Champ was not in a great place come Friday night. Teammate Liam Lawson failed to upset the Top 10 finishing only seventeenth and sixteenth in the two sessions.

One bright spot, however was Jack Doohan. Reportedly under pressure and having Franco Colapinto arrive at Melbourne Walk in a hoodie and not engaging with the public, Doohan outpaced the highly-rated Pierre Gasly – who was one of the quick men in Bahrain.

And finally – who won the Merchandise sales battle?

Well, as on track, it is full Aussie support for Piastri with papaya equally seen with the scarlett red of Ferrari in shirts and caps. Fading back are the Red Bull and Mercedes colours.