All fired up in the rain at Albert Park

It was a tale of two [half] sessions during the second Practice session in the FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2023, with mixed conditions greeting the drivers.

With rain closing in on the Albert Park circuit, there was an early flurry on slick tyres, during which the early pacesetter, Fernando Alonso, set a time of 1m18.887sec in his Aston Martin. The Spaniard flung the green car around the circuit with great skill and ended up 0.445sec clear of the opposition, which was led by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

Then the drizzle sent the drivers and the spectators heading for cover before some of the drivers emerged with 20 minutes remaining in the 60-minute session. On Intermediate tyres, the cars twitched and darted around the sweeping bends, with Lewis Hamilton in particular showing huge commitment in his Mercedes-Benz.

With early showers predicted to clear on Saturday before Qualifying that form may be a moot point, but it looks unwise to discount a challenge from the seven-time world champion on one of his favourite circuits.

Max Verstappen, who led the time sheets in the opening Practice session of the day, was third fastest in the dry and likewise showed serious commitment in the tricky, damp conditions.

He may have fallen behind his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez, had the Mexican not been baulked by a slower car after setting the fastest times in the first two sectors on his best lap. Perez ended up in seventh overall.

Australian Oscar Piastri was down in 14^th place in his McLaren, and even though he completed plenty of laps in the damp conditions, he would be rueing the loss of track time on a dry track.

At least he was better off than fellow Formula 1® rookie Logan Sargeant, who failed to post a single lap in the session after his Williams stopped with a mechanical issue in the first Practice session.