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Alex Kalinauckas

F1 Australian GP: Alonso tops rain-hit second practice from Leclerc

Verstappen led the pack out of the pits at the start of FP2, but it was Carlos Sainz that set the first time to set the first place benchmark, the Spaniard putting in a 1m20.378s on the medium tyres to establish the first-place benchmark.

A few minutes later, Verstappen beat this with a 1m19.759s while also running the mediums, before Sainz shot back ahead with his second lap to complete a 1m19.695s.

But this only stood as the best time for a few moments as Alonso's first flier on the mediums resulted in a 1m18.887s for the Spaniard, which then stood as the leading lap for nearly all the session.

This was because shortly before the first quarter of the one-hour session had been completed, rain began to hit Albert Park – most noticeably at the first corners where Verstappen had an early off catching snap oversteer running the rapid right and immediately following Turn 2 left.

Just before conditions really worsened, Leclerc slotted into second behind Alonso, with the Aston driver and Lando Norris sliding deep at Turn 1 as fans in the grandstands put on hats and coats to shield themselves from the weather.

In Norris's case, his off had him shooting deep into the grass runoff behind Turns 1/2, then skating through the gravel trap before continuing on his way.

Lance Stroll tapped the wall approaching the super-fast Turn 9 left as a few runners remained on the track in the slippery conditions, after which all the cars returned to the pits in a lengthy lull in the action.

Around the halfway mark, the Ferrari drivers went back on out the softs, with George Russell following them out on the intermediates, but all three pitted after one lap as the red cars struggled on slicks and the track was not wet enough for the inters on the Mercedes.

Esteban Ocon, Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen then ventured out on the inters, but again did not complete timed laps and little action took place.

Approaching the final 20 minutes, a gaggle of cars did take back to the track, including Verstappen, to complete additional running on the inters, plus conduct practice starts at the end of the pitlane to gather data should Sunday's race end up starting in similar conditions.

The wet running meant none of the top times was troubled to the end of the session, with the most notable action Stroll and Russell nearly dropping their cars and spearing into the inside wall just past Turn 3, with Stroll also sliding off and briefly skating through the gravel at the same corner in a different incident.

Behind Alonso, Leclerc and Verstappen in the final times came Russell, Sainz, Ocon and Sergio Perez in seventh.

Perez had been on a lap that would have easily beaten Alonso's best time as he circulated on the softs during the early running, but he came across Zhou Guanyu's Alfa Romeo at the critical, fast Turns 9/10 complex and had to abandon the lap.

Lando Norris, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.

Logan Sargeant did not take any part in FP2 as Williams continued to investigate the electrical issue stopped him on track late in FP1.

Cla Driver Chassis Engine Laps Time Gap
1 Spain Fernando Alonso Aston Martin Mercedes 13 1'18.887  
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari 10 1'19.332 0.445
3 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Red Bull 12 1'19.502 0.615
4 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes Mercedes 20 1'19.672 0.785
5 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari Ferrari 12 1'19.695 0.808
6 France Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 12 1'19.725 0.838
7 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull Red Bull 15 1'20.083 1.196
8 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 20 1'20.176 1.289
9 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Haas Ferrari 19 1'20.194 1.307
10 France Pierre Gasly Alpine Renault 12 1'20.206 1.319
11 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Red Bull 18 1'20.220 1.333
12 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 22 1'20.312 1.425
13 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 17 1'20.323 1.436
14 Australia Oscar Piastri McLaren Mercedes 24 1'20.380 1.493
15 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 22 1'20.470 1.583
16 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes 15 1'20.579 1.692
17 Netherlands Nyck de Vries AlphaTauri Red Bull 8 1'20.600 1.713
18 Thailand Alex Albon Williams Mercedes 18 1'21.182 2.295
19 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 18 1'21.266 2.379
20 United States Logan Sargeant Williams Mercedes 0    
 

 

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