Fernando Alonso went fastest in second practice, followed by Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, who were several tenths behind.
This slightly abnormal top-three was largely caused by the arrival of the rain in Albert Park, which also resulted in a drop in temperatures. This forced the teams to adapt their running plans to the changeable weather conditions in Melbourne and maximise their track time.
Red Bull continued to use two different configurations on its RB19 in FP2. Max Verstappen, as in the first free practice session, chose a lower downforce configuration, while Sergio Perez used a set-up with more downforce.
Australia FP2: No long runs due to rain, tomorrow the track will be ‘green’
Unfortunately, Logan Sargeant could not take part in the second Friday session, with Williams unable to fix the issue that forced the American driver to stop at the end of First Practice.
Different compounds were tested at Red Bull, with Max Verstappen using the medium tyres whilst his teammate primarily used the softs.
Ferrari and Alfa Romeo focused on the medium compound, while Mercedes and AlphaTauri worked on the Hard tyre. The other teams split the compounds (Medium and Hard) between their two drivers from the start of the session.
Rain in Free Practice 2 made it difficult for the drivers to get any meaningful long-run data. As forecast, the rain began to fall after just a quarter of an hour.
However, this did not stop Ferrari from sending its drivers onto the track with new soft tyres – only to be met with poor results.
Less than half an hour from the end, the drivers began to take to the track with the intermediate tyres.
McLaren, Alfa Romeo and Mercedes were among the teams to complete the most laps on a wet track.
In these tricky conditions, plenty of drivers made small mistakes, quickly meeting with the grass and gravel after going off track.
As anticipated a few days ago, the rain from FP2 will make track conditions similar to what they were like in FP1.
Furthermore, tomorrow morning’s FP3 session (3.30 CET) will see a lot of action on the track. This session will not only feature the typical qualifying simulations but also some simulations with the race in mind.
Authors: Paolo D’Alessandro , Andrea Vergani
Translation: Jaden Diaz-Ndisang
