Alonso tops rain-hit second practice from Leclerc and Verstappen

Alonso went quickest amid a busy start to FP2 as the drivers headed out on track to make the most of the dry conditions and complete some running before the rain hit. 

• F1 2023 Australian Grand Prix - Friday Practice Results

The 41-year-old Spaniard ended up 0.445s clear of Ferrari’s Leclerc and early championship-leader Verstappen, who was 0.615s adrift in his Red Bull. 

George Russell was fourth-fastest, 0.785s off the pace, while Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was only 13th. 

The seven-time world champion was unhappy with the balance of his W14 and carried out further set-up changes as he looks to get on top of his early struggles with Mercedes’ 2023 challenger. 

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fifth, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, who was blocked on both of his dry-tyre runs. 

Lando Norris, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly completed the rest of the top-10 order for McLaren, Haas and AlphaTauri respectively. 

Electrical issues at Williams restricted F1 rookie Logan Sargeant to his garage for the entire session. 

The rain prevented any representative running and also meant teams were unable to complete any race simulations on dry tyres. 

Aside from a couple of trips over the grass at Turn 1 for the likes of Verstappen and Norris, the drivers avoided any dramas in the greasy conditions.