McLaren’s hometown hero Oscar Piastri led a super-competitive final practice session for Sunday’s Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix with the Australian just 39 one-thousandths of a second ahead of Merce

Home racer Oscar Piastri put McLaren top of the timesheets in the final free practice before Australian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday while Haas rookie Oliver Bearman spun out to trigger a second red flag in two days.

Local hero Oscar Piastri has gone second-fastest in practice in a promising sign for his hopes of a breakthrough win at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

Today is the day, then. For all of pre-season and even during the first three practice sessions we have had here so far, the mantra has been “we’ll see after qualifying in Melbourne”. That is that whatever teams have been holding back or not, there is no place to hide when it comes to the first session that sets the grid for 2025.

The 24-race, 2025 Formula One season begins with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this weekend. McLaren and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen start their respective defences of the constructors’ and drivers’ championships, with two free-practice sessions today ahead of qualifying tomorrow. Today: FP1 (9:30pm ET), FP2 (1am ET).

Oscar Piastri headed the timesheets during the third and final practice session at the 2025 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.