The Latest Breaking News from Mercedes

Rain started sporadically falling in the paddock with under an hour to go ahead of FP2's 3pm local time commencement, but this intensified with 15 minutes to go.

The Red Bull driver followed the red flag-enforced hiatus, produced by Logan Sargeant's crash, with a hot lap on soft tyres that eventually landed on a 1m30.056s to throw down the gauntlet for the rest of the weekend.

With McLaren locked in a tight battle behind Red Bull with Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin, grid positions have become increasingly critical in deciding the outcome on race day.

The Spaniard appeared set to re-sign with Ferrari, but management then became aware that Lewis Hamilton was potentially available - the Briton's latest two-year Mercedes contract actually only containing a fixed one-year term with an option for another season.

Lewis Hamilton has backed Sebastian Vettel to make a return to Formula One by stepping in to replace him at Mercedes when the British driver moves to Ferrari

In the two months since news broke that Hamilton will leave Mercedes after 12 seasons to join Ferrari next year, the instability engulfing Red Bull F1 management has placed Max Verstappen and Silver Arrows protégé Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the top of the shortlist to replace the Briton.

The FIA is currently undertaking a review into the first incident, which occurred after Russell was caught out by Fernando Alonso deliberately braking earlier for Albert Park's Turn 6 as part of an attempt by the Aston Martin driver to disrupt the chasing Mercedes racer.

Russell was left screaming for the race to be stopped after his wrecked W15 had bounced back onto the track and come to rest on its side following a crash while chasing Fernando Alonso.

The Aston Martin driver was handed a drive-through penalty in Melbourne, converted to a 20-second time addition, for the way in which he aggressively defended against George Russell on the final lap around Albert Park.