Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton has ended the second practice session fastest for Mercedes, after team-mate Nico Rosberg crashed in the inclement weather conditions.
After heavy rainfall between the two sessions, practice two began in far from ideal weather conditions, with all of the drivers opting for Pirelli’s intermediate tyre.
Rosberg lost control of his Mercedes on the exit of Turn 7, after applying the throttle in the greasy conditions.
This resulted in the German spearing across the track and slamming into the concrete wall, destroying the new front-wing on his car and bringing his session to a premature conclusion.
Despite trying to limp back to the pits after hitting the wall, Rosberg was quickly instructed to stop at the side of the track, with the front-wing lodged precariously underneath his car.
Whilst Rosberg was forced to watch the remainder of the session from the garage, team-mate Hamilton was followed at the sharp end of the order by Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India.
Kimi Raikkonen was the best of the Ferrari duo in third, after setting the early benchmark at the top during the wettest part of the session.
Local hero Daniel Ricciardo came home fourth for Red Bull, after finally becoming the first driver to take to the track after roughly 20 minutes of inactivity at the start due to the inclement weather conditions.
Carlos Sainz was a strong fifth for Toro Rosso, after encountering a fuel issue during practice one earlier in the day.
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button ended the session sixth and seventh overall, after a productive start to the weekend for the Woking-based outfit.
Alonso in particular momentarily sat at the top of the order as the conditions improved throughout the session, before the likes of Sainz and Raikkonen lowered the benchmark even further.
The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel could only manage eighth fastest overall, after a frustrating day for the German racer.
Earlier in the day Vettel was caught out by the rain and was ultimately unable to get a strong lap completed, with much of the same poor luck befalling him in practice two.
Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten, with the Force India driver in particular getting caught out slightly by a rain shower during the latter stages of the session, running wide at Turn 1.
Meanwhile Esteban Gutierrez ended the session 11th overall, despite suffering a major off at Turn 1 and almost beaching himself in the deep gravel trap.
Rosberg ended the session 15th overall after failing to return to the action after his incident, whilst Kevin Magnussen, Jolyon Palmer, Felipe Massa, Valtteri Bottas, Marcus Ericsson, Felipe Nasr and Max Verstappen all elected against completing timed laps in the tricky conditions.
The drivers will return to the Albert Park circuit tomorrow for the third and final practice session, before the all-important and revamped qualifying hour later in the day.
Australia – Practice 2 Result:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:38.841 | 7 | |
| 2 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:39.308 | 0.467 | 8 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:39.486 | 0.645 | 7 |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:39.535 | 0.694 | 9 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:39.694 | 0.853 | 16 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1:39.895 | 1.054 | 16 |
| 7 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1:40.008 | 1.167 | 13 |
| 8 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:40.761 | 1.920 | 7 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:41.256 | 2.415 | 8 |
| 10 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1:42.411 | 3.570 | 10 |
| 11 | Esteban Gutierrez | Haas-Ferrari | 1:42.891 | 4.050 | 10 |
| 12 | Pascal Wehrlein | Manor-Mercedes | 1:43.401 | 4.560 | 25 |
| 13 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1:43.731 | 4.890 | 8 |
| 14 | Rio Haryanto | Manor-Mercedes | 1:44.304 | 5.463 | 22 |
| 15 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:47.356 | 8.515 | 4 |