Melbourne, 26 March

Yet again it is difficult to assess Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s performance at the end of the second free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix, which was affected by intermittent rain and variable track conditions. It meant the cars took a while before going out on track and then had to come back in again to wait for conditions to change, which meant it was not possible to string together many laps.

McLaren dominated the session, with Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in first and second on 1.25.801 and 1.26.076 respectively. Mark Webber was third for Red Bull in 1.26.248. Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were unable to make the most of the changing conditions, ending up fifteenth and seventeenth respectively. Fernando’s best lap was a 1.29.025, completing a total of 20, while Felipe did a 1.29.591 with 21 laps to his name.

Practice resumes at 2pm local time tomorrow with the final hour of free practice, prior to qualifying.