The second practice session of the day saw little racing and running due to heavy rain hitting the track fifteen minutes into the session. Before that, Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen had signed the best laps, whereas Logan Sargeant didn’t manage to complete any timed lap as his team was still working on his Williams after his earlier FP1 issue.
After a paused and shortened FP1 session, 15 drivers went out immediately at the beginning of the session in order to have time to complete long runs.
Everyone wanted to take advantage of the session with conditions the most similar to those of the race. Lando Norris almost hit the wall while coming out of the pits but managed to not hit the walls.
The first time on the leaderboard is a 1:20.378 signed by Carlos Sainz, soon improved by his teammate Charles Leclerc, both on mediums. Soon they are both bested by Verstappen, but Alonso is the first driver to go under the 1:18s.
Perez is the only driver out on track on softs, but he is stuck in P7 as he mentions that traffic doesn’t allow him to improve his best attempt.
Verstappen can’t improve from his P3 behind Alonso and Leclerc as while he was on a fast lap he went off into the grass.
Fifteen minutes into the session it started to rain, with drivers like both AlphaTauri’s returning to the pits. Logan Sargeant hasn’t managed to leave the pits yet, as his team is still working on his car after his earlier session was cut off due to an engine issue.
Just before the rain picked up, momentarily Saudi Arabia podium finisher George Russell on hards went up to P4.
Lando Norris went into the gravel while under the rain at Turn 1, but managed to return on track on his own, whereas Lance Stroll slightly hit the wall losing his camera.
Out first after the beginning of the rain, half hour in the session, were both Ferraris on softs and George Russell on inters, in order to see if the track conditions were improving a bit. The Mercedes driver returned after a single lap, whilst the Ferraris stayed out for a bit more.
Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Lewis Hamilton all went out on inters as well to verify the viability of the track, but returned to the pits after a single lap.
They were imitated by the rest of the grid. Sone drivers, like the Aston Martin, Haas and McLaren‘s and Albon began to do short simulations on the inters. Hulkenberg was pleased to rejoin the grid after his earlier DRS issues had been solved. Lance Stroll had a moment and almost hit the barrier at Turn 3
Unlike Mercedes and Alpine’s earlier prediction, the intensity of the rain has picked up, with Lance Stroll struggling even more at Turn 3 and ending up in the gravel.
The best laps set on a wet Albert Park were in the order of the 1:30s and signed by Oscar Piastri, Kevin Magnussen and George Russell.
Just at the end of the session, the track appears to be staring to dry up, as Nico Hulkenberg joins the number of drivers who have lapped on inters in the 1:30s.
