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In the second practice session at the Albert Park circuit yesterday, Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas in a session that saw the drivers perfecting their set ups and seeing where they need to improve before FP3 and Qualifying.
The main talking point in FP2 was about Renault driver Jolyon Palmer and the awful crash he sustained in the session. Just 20 minutes into the session, Palmer had an heavy crash at the final corner
Palmer was set to complete a personal-best lap when he lost the rear of his Renault and slammed backwards into the tyre wall on the outside of Turn 16. The front left of the RS17 was pulled round into the wall by the impact, before the car bounced off and came to a rest in the middle of the track with substantial damage. This then brought out the red flag while Palmer could leave the car safely and the marshals could get the car safely away from the circuit.
Also in the session, an unknown problem for Kevin Magnussen limited the Haas driver to just six laps, while Marcus Ericsson caused a late yellow flag when he beached his Sauber in the Turn 6 gravel.
But it was Lewis Hamilton who was fastest with a lap time of 1:23.6.20. Hamilton's laptime was less than a tenth slower than the fastest ever lap of Albert Park – Vettel’s 2011 pole time. Hamilton finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel in second place who was 0.547 seconds behind him and ahead of Valtteri Bottas in third place who was 0.556 seconds behind Hamilton.
Kimi Raikkonen finished the session in fourth place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in fifth place, Max Verstappen in sixth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in seventh place, Romain Grosjean in eighth place, Nico Hulkenberg in ninth place and Daniil Kvyat who rounded off the top ten finishers.
Sergio Perez ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Fernando Alonso in twelfth place, Esteban Ocon in thirteenth place, Felipe Massa in fourteenth place and Marcus Ericsson in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Lance Stroll ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne in seventeenth place, Pascal Wehrlein in eighteenth place, Kevin Magnussen in nineteenth place and Jolyon Palmer in twentieth place.
The classification of FP2 for the Australian GP is as follows:-
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.23.620s
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.547s
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 0.556s
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.905s
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.030s
6. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.393s
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.464s
8. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 1.816s
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1.858s
10. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1.873s
11. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1.971s
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 2.380s
13. Esteban Ocon, Force India-Mercedes, 2.525s
14. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 2.711s
15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 2.878s
16. Lance Stroll, Williams-Mercedes, 2.905s
17. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren-Honda, 2.988s
18. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber-Ferrari, 3.299s
19. Kevin Magnussen, Haas Ferrari, 3.659s
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 3.929s
Driving for Pleasure will be covering the Australian GP weekend with our practice, qualifying and race reports alongside the latest news.
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
