The first day of activities for the Formula 1 season opener in Australia has concluded. And in the second free practice session in Melbourne, held this Friday (6), Gabriel Bortoleto finished in 14th place on the table with a time of 1min21s668.
Read more F1: Check the full results of FP2 for the 2026 Australian GP
The clock started and competitors were authorized to leave the pitlane for the start of the second session at Albert Park. In FP1, Charles Leclerc led and the driver of car #5 was in ninth position.
Bortoleto didn’t take long to leave the pits after the pit lane opened and the session began. After his first fast lap, the driver was in tenth place with a time just over 2s behind the leader Lewis Hamilton.
With 15 minutes gone on the countdown clock, the Audi driver managed to lower his previous mark and, being in eighth place, held a 1min21s990 using medium tires – at this point, he had already completed eight laps.
As time goes by, competitors improve their times and push Bortoleto further down the table. With half of the practice already done in Melbourne, the driver was in 12th place, 1.7s behind the leader, and now running on soft tires.
Read more F1: Check out the images from FP1 and FP2 for the 2026 Australian GP
The Brazilian Audi driver had already completed 15 total laps, six with this red tire, and remained in 13th place. Even with the change in qualifying, where Q1 and Q2 eliminate six drivers starting in 2026, the competitor remained on the edge of Q3.
In the final stretch of practice, a yellow flag was necessary, which was soon after converted into a virtual safety car. The reason was a problem with Sergio Pérez, who stopped with his Cadillac in the track’s runoff area – at this moment, Gabriel was 14th.
It didn’t take long and the green flag was already waved at the Australian circuit; the drivers would have just under 4 minutes remaining on the clock for the final laps in this FP2 and the end of the day.
Less than a minute on the clock and Audi’s #5 went out to the track once more, again wearing soft tires. But without improving his time, the Brazilian finished in 14th.
Read more F1: Piastri leads Australian GP FP2 with top 3 dominated by Mercedes
