Argentine driver Nicolas Varrone finished in fourteenth place during the first free practice of the Formula 2 Australian Grand Prix. According to the Argentine News Agency, the driver for the Dutch Van Amersfoort Racing team had no issues during the session and stopped the clock at 1:30.399 on his best lap, 1.262 seconds off the pace. The most notable driver was Italian Gabriele Mini of MP Motorsport and the Alpine academy, followed by Mexican Noel León of Campos Racing and Brazilian Rafael Camara, who represents last year's champion team, Invicta Racing. In a session that was unusual due to its short 45-minute duration, Nicolas Varrone officially completed his first kilometers in Formula 2. The practice went smoothly for the first 20 minutes until the Hitech driver, 26-year-old American Colton Herta, the 2024 IndyCar runner-up, went off track at the exit of turn 10. This caused him to lose control and impact the rear of his car against the protective barriers. His car was removed under red flags, and the driver got out without any physical injuries. The second red flag of the training session came 20 minutes later, this time involving the Thai driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who races for ART Grand Prix. Although he did not crash, his car ended up in the gravel, and he was unable to retrieve it from that area. Meanwhile, in a practice session where he had no major issues, Varrone left a positive impression by finishing ahead of his teammate, Mexican Rafael Villagómez, who set a time of 1:30.573 and finished seventeenth. With Mini as the session leader with a 1:29.137, over four tenths of a second ahead of his main pursuer, the short and interrupted free practice came to an end, giving the Formula 2 drivers a few hours of rest before the start of qualifying at 00:55 AM on the morning of Friday, March 6 (Argentine time).
