Hamilton: 'A little bit early' to challenge for pole in Australia

Hamilton finished Friday's second practice session in Australia in fifth, 0.42 seconds slower than team-mate Charles Leclerc, who set the pace.

Leclerc finished ahead of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who had topped the first practice, though Hamilton made a big improvement between Friday's sessions, having finished 12th in the first.

The 40-year-old has taken the most pole positions at the Australian Grand Prix (eight), only achieving more in Hungary (nine).

However, he has only taken pole in one of the last 69 races he has contested (Hungary in 2023), and he does not expect to be back at the front of the grid following Saturday's qualifying.

"For me, I think it's a little bit early [to go for pole] as I continue to learn the car, but never say never," Hamilton said.

"I will give it everything and [I'm] just not putting too much pressure on. Try and enjoy it. I have some pace to find. I know where to find it. It's just about going out and doing it.

"P2 was definitely a bit better but [I'm] just slowly building and getting a little bit faster bit by bit."

Charles goes quickest in second practiceHere's the final FP2 classification #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/Mw4VZSp99V

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 14, 2025

Leclerc, meanwhile, is looking to make a strong start to the 2025 season as he targets pole position for the first race.

The Monagasque, who set the record lap time on this track back in 2022, is only 10 points away from overtaking Sebastian Vettel (1,400) as the Ferrari driver with the most points in Formula One history (currently 1,391).

Having also finished well ahead of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who was seventh at the end of the second session, Leclerc is confident of his chances in qualifying.

"We did a good preparation work because the feeling with the car was good," he said.

"There are things we need to improve as always, and I am not very happy with the balance yet, but we are in a much better place compared to Bahrain testing and there is still some performance to find.

"It has been a solid first day, and we have to see how it goes when we push a bit more.

"For sure, McLaren is up there. Red Bull might be struggling a little bit more for now, but with them and especially Max [Verstappen] you can never really rule them out.