Max Esterson: Melbourne Beckons

Preseason testing with Trident Racing has gone well.

MELBOURNE, Australia – I’m excited to be writing my first race preview of the 2025 FIA Formula 2 season because it means we’re ready to go racing again. I arrived in Melbourne last weekend to get settled in after a long trip from London via Hong Kong. Melbourne is the capital of the state of Victoria and is the second most populous city in Australia with 5.2 million people, and home to the Albert Park Circuit which has hosted the Formula 1 Grand Prix beginning in 1996, covering 5.278 km (3.280 miles) with over 14 turns.

The Albert Park F1 track record is 1:19.8 with a very fast average speed of 238 kph or 148 mph. While this is only the third year Formula 2 has traveled to Melbourne, our laps are approximately nine seconds slower, but still a quick 214 kph / 133 mph average lap speed. My Trident team had a good weekend in Australia last year – winning the Sprint Race with Roman Stanek, while the Feature Race was won by 2025 F1 rookie debutant, Isack Hadjar of Campos Racing.

Pit stops are a crucial element in FIA Formula 2.

Last year was my first visit to Melbourne (as well as the Formula 3 series’ first ever visit) and I’m glad I have some circuit knowledge for our return this year. I feel like I’ve learned a lot since then, and the whole Trident team has had good pace in testing both in Abu Dhabi and more recently in Barcelona. The team has worked extra hard to get the cars turned around and ready after Barcelona and on to the flight to Melbourne early last week, so I’m hoping to start the season properly and reward all the long hours with some good results this weekend.

Tune in for the normal schedule of Friday Free Practice and Qualifying, Saturday Sprint Race and Sunday Feature Race. Times are below and as usual, live timing on the FIA Formula 2 site here, with live and on-demand coverage on SkySports F1 and ESPN+.

TIMES Local / UK BST / US ET
Friday, March 14:
Free Practice: 10:00 – 10:45 (Thursday 23:00 – 23:45 UK / Thursday 18:00 – 18:45 US ET)
Qualifying: 17:30 – 18:00 (06:30 – 07:00 UK / 02:30 – 03:00 US ET)

Saturday, March 15
Sprint Race: 14:15 – 23 laps or 45 min + 1 lap (03:15 UK / Friday 23:15 US ET)

Sunday, March 16:
Feature Race: 11:30 – 33 laps or 60 min + 1 lap (00:30 UK / Saturday 20:30 US ET)

Max