Old man Fernando Alonso is back, back at the top of the time sheets for second practice at the Australian Grand Prix. The old man set his time before rain disrupted much of the session. Red Bull remains the team to beat, however, Verstappen was complaining about a lack of grip, more from running on a fairly new track surface rather than a lack of mechanical performance from his RB19. Verstappen did manage to slot in a time before the rain arrived but could only manage third, behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.

It is difficult to take away much from both Friday’s two practice sessions due to limited running caused by rain. But Saturday’s qualifying session should see a number of upsets to the usual grid order because rain is expected. However, Sunday will offer all runners perfect conditions and should see Red Bull walk away with victory, barring reliability issues or race collisions.

2023 Australian Grand Prix: Second Practice Results

1 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin 1:18.887

2 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +0.445

3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +0.615

4 George RUSSELL Mercedes +0.785

5 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +0.808

6 Esteban OCON Alpine +0.838

7 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +1.196

8 Lando NORRIS McLaren +1.289

9 Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +1.307

10 Pierre GASLY Alpine +1.319

11 Yuki TSUNODA AlphaTauri +1.333

12 Valtteri BOTTAS Alfa Romeo +1.425

13 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +1.436

14 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +1.493

15 Guanyu ZHOU Alfa Romeo +1.583

16 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +1.692

17 Nyck DE VRIES AlphaTauri +1.713

18 Alexander ALBON Williams +2.295

19 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +2.379

20 Logan SARGEANT Williams no time