Formula 1

The 2025 Formula 1 season officially kicked off on Friday as the championship held its first two practice sessions of the year, with fans finally getting to see Lewis Hamilton in the famous red of Ferrari in person for the first time.

However, it was his teammate Charles Leclerc who proved the fastest of the day, setting a Practice 2 lap time of 1:16.439. Second overall in the session was hometown hero Oscar Piastri, just one-tenth off, while teammate Lando Norris rounded out the top three, a further two-hundredths of a second behind.

In the opening session, it was Norris who topped the timesheets ahead of new Williams driver Carlos Sainz by one and a half tenths, with Leclerc in third, just ahead of Piastri.

In his first Australian Grand Prix, Jack Doohan showed plenty of pace across both sessions—going 13th fastest in Practice 1 and 14th fastest in Practice 2. The Queenslander outpaced teammate Pierre Gasly on both occasions.

It didn’t take long into the 2025 Formula 1 season for the first incident to occur, as Haas’ Ollie Bearman lost control midway through the session and slammed into the wall, bringing out a red flag.

Unfortunately, the youngster didn’t partake in the second session as Haas mechanics worked tirelessly to get his car intact for tomorrow’s Practice 3.

Formula 2

Gabriel Mini will start his first-ever F2 race from pole position after producing a lightning-quick lap in the category’s qualifying session on Friday afternoon.

The Italian managed to edge out Victor Martins by just over one-tenth of a second, while J. Crawford rounded out the top three, a further two-tenths behind the Frenchman.

Mini’s pole position was an enormous improvement from practice earlier in the day, as he gained five seconds between the two sessions, with Martins setting the benchmark in Practice 2.

Formula 3

Rafael Camara enjoyed a dream debut day in Formula 3, topping the timesheets in Practice 1 before securing pole position in the category’s qualifying session.

The Brazilian led a Trident front-row lockout during the session, beating teammate Noah Strømsted by just over one-tenth of a second.

The two were in a league of their own, with the next-best driver, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Théophile Naël, almost half a second behind Strømsted.

Aussie James Wharton officially kicked off his first-ever full FIA Formula 3 season with P22—qualifying just under two seconds behind Camara.

Wharton and the rest of the category will be on track for the Sprint Race at 11:15 a.m.

Supercars

Cameron Hill’s incredible Australian Grand Prix weekend continued on Friday as the Matt Stone Racing driver led the Queensland-based team’s first-ever one-two finish.

Following his best-ever qualifying result and maiden podium in Thursday’s first race of the round, the Canberran driver went even better today, passing polesitter Broc Feeney on the opening lap and holding strong for the rest of the 19-lap race.

With teammate Nick Percat behind him for the whole race and defending strongly, it was a perfect day for Hill, who became the 87th race winner in the Australian Touring Cars Championship/Supercars.

Rounding out the top three was reigning champion Will Brown, who worked his way from fifth, passing Andrew Heimgartner on the opening lap and overtaking Feeney midway through the race.

Supercars will have two qualifying sessions on Saturday morning, setting up the third race of the weekend in the afternoon.

Carrera Cup

After an entertaining opening race on Thursday, the one-make series put on another show as Jackson Walls secured his fifth career win in the category.

His victory came as a result of reigning champion Harri Jones running off the track following a late restart, with Bayley Hall and Marcos Flack crossing The line behind him in second and third respectively.

In Pro-Am, Rodney Jane claimed the race win after Sam Shahin after he was forced to retire due to contact. Jane’s win extended his lead in the Pro-Am standings.

Brett Boulton finished in second place, continuing his strong form in the series, while Dean Cook rounded out the Pro-Am podium in third. – The race wasn’t without incident either as both Matt Slavin and Caleb Sumich failed to finish due to accidents and mechanical issues.

Just one race remains for the category, with the final outing of the weekend to take place on Saturday evening.