Lewis Hamilton continued his strong start to the 2017 Formula 1 season as he topped the timesheets again in second practice for the Australian Grand Prix.
The three-time F1 champion got within a tenth of Sebastian Vettel’s record lap time around Albert Park from 2011 on the ultra-soft tyres and ended the session half a second clear of the Ferrari driver.
Vettel and the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas were separated by less than a tenth of a second as the Finn continued to trail Hamilton in terms of pace.
Kimi Raikkonen was four-tenths shy of team-mate Vettel while Daniel Ricciardo was a second off Hamilton in fifth.
All of the teams’ ultra-soft runs were hampered by Jolyon Palmer’s crash at the final corner which resulted in a brief red flag stoppage. The Renault driver was unharmed but his R.S.17 was heavily damaged.
Toro Rosso led the tight midfield battle as Carlos Sainz was able to match Max Verstappen’s time for seventh place.
Romain Grosjean continued to struggle with the brakes on the Haas but managed to put a strong lap together to end the session inside the top 10 ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniil Kvyat.
Sergio Perez was just outside the top 10 in 11th ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who had a surprisingly smooth day on his way to 12th.
Felipe Massa was forced to stop his FW40 mid-way through the session after he suffered a gearbox issue. The Brazilian ended FP2 in 14th while rookie team-mate Lance Stroll was 16th.
Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson ended the day in the gravel at Turn 6 after losing the rear under braking. This resulted in a brief virtual safety car period where the drivers were forced to slow down and could not overtake.
Kevin Magnussen suffered a water leak and ended the day last.
