George Russell double trouble as Oscar Piastri sparks Australian delight

George Russell will speak to the stewards over two incidents during a second practice session for the Australian Grand Prix led by home hero Oscar Piastri.

Russell was initially involved in a pit-lane collision with Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad before being noted for a practice start infringement later in the hour of running at Melbourne's Albert Park.

The Briton finished the session third quickest behind McLaren driver Piastri and Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli, with a third of a second separating the trio, led by the Australian's 1:19.729s.

Ferrari not as good as in FP1

Twenty minutes into the session, Russell recorded a lap quicker than the leading FP1 time from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, posting a 1:20.049s on the first of the soft-tyre runs.

That will have been a relief to Russell after enduring an awkward moment in the pit lane with fellow Briton Lindblad just as the session started.

As Russell tried to squeeze in front of Lindblad to join the queue in the fast lane, the 18-year-old ran over the end of the front wing of the Mercedes.

It necessitated Russell's pit crew pushing him back into the garage for a front-wing change, and the stewards announced they would be investigating the incident post-session.

Before the half-hour mark, and as the soft-tyre runs began to increase, Antonelli became the first driver to break the 80-second barrier, posting a 1:19.943s.

Lewis Hamilton's opening soft-tyre attempt saw him post the leading time in the first sector, only to drift away slightly in the second and third, and finish 0.176s adrift of Antonelli.

Leclerc fared even worse with a 1:20.291s, before Piastri sent the home crowd into raptures with the leading time of 1:19.729s, which remained the benchmark for the remainder of the day.

A second attempt on the same tyre from Leclerc saw him improve marginally, albeit finishing 0.562s behind Piastri, before a second run from Hamilton saw him trundle across the gravel at one stage.

The seven-time champion cooled off before going again, finishing fourth quickest, one-thousandth of a second behind Russell.

Aston get in some running

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who had endured his own frightening gravel moment at Turn 10 late in the session, finished sixth, and the only other driver within a second of Piastri, 0.637s adrift.

There was then a gap of just over four-tenths of a second to current champion Lando Norris in his McLaren. A clutch issue had led to little running for the Briton in FP1 before a more solid outing in FP2, albeit 1.065s behind Piastri.

Lindblad was again impressive, finishing eighth fastest, quicker than Verstappen's new Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar by 0.019s, with Haas duo Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman in 10th and 11th.

Further down the field, there were issues for Williams' Carlos Sainz, who managed just 10 laps and was 2.524s off the pace in 17th, and for Cadillac's Sergio Perez.

The Mexican was delayed exiting the garage due to a sensor issue, and when he did get going, he pulled over on his out lap due to a hydraulics problem.

As for Perez's team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, the Finn was 19th and almost four second back, with the only other drivers slower being Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Alonso missed all of FP1 due to a PU issue, but chalked up 18 laps in FP2, but was nearly five seconds down, whilst Stroll added 13 laps and just over a second further back.