Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets for Aston Martin in a rain-hit second free apply on the Australian Grand Prix on Friday after Method One champion Max Verstappen was quickest within the dry first session.
Alonso was fast to submit a lap of 1 minute and 18.887 seconds on medium tyres earlier than the rain got here and completed almost half a second away from Ferrari’s second quickest Charles Leclerc.
Crimson Bull’s Verstappen was third quickest forward of Mercedes’ George Russell however warning took precedence over tempo and the situations allowed for little significant working.
Lewis Hamilton, second quickest within the first session, posted solely the thirteenth quickest lap within the second and spent a lot of it within the storage as engineers tinkered along with his automobile.
Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz virtually collided in visitors as automobiles jammed the monitor earlier than the rain, however McLaren’s Lando Norris was the primary to return to grief when the climate modified as he slid into grass and gravel at flip one.
The rain despatched most drivers again for an extended stretch within the storage however a number of emerged later within the session.
Leclerc and Sainz got here out on delicate tyres however quickly pitted to alter to the mediums after struggling for grip, as Alonso’s early time went unchallenged.
Verstappen earlier topped an eventful first session (FP1) below blue skies, lapping in a single minute, 18.790 seconds, almost half a second faster than Hamilton.
Two pink flags disrupted the session.
It was halted halfway by means of resulting from a GPS failure, which organisers stated made groups unable to watch automobile positions and shutting speeds.
The second pink flag minimize the session quick by a couple of minutes as Williams rookie Logan Sargeant got here to a halt on track-side grass with an obvious energy failure.
Sargeant didn’t emerge from the Williams storage to submit a lap within the second session.
Verstappen’s crew mate Sergio Perez was third quickest, with Alonso fourth.
Verstappen completed FP1 with a little bit of drama, taking an enormous spin at flip 4 to smash his tyres.
Leclerc and Sainz had been fifth and sixth quickest with Norris seventh.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was eighth quickest forward of Russell.
House hero and McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri was twelfth in FP1 and 14th in FP2.
Haas’s Kevin Magnussen, the slowest of the 20 automobiles in FP1, skidded into the gravel, whereas AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda additionally locked up at excessive pace to take an enormous slide by means of gravel halfway by means of.