Summary

  • Hamilton fastest in second practice, but top teams appear close

  • Rain expected across qualifying and the race

  • Bottas, Ocon & Alonso all go off track

  1. Australia's long waitpublished at 05:15 Greenwich Mean Time 24 March 2018

    .Image source, .

    The Brits have historically done well in Australia, claiming 11 wins in 33 years. In contrast, the hosts are still waiting for a home winner.

    Will this be Daniel Ricciardo's year?

  2. Postpublished at 06:48 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    .Image source, Getty Images

    And with that, it's time for us to go!

    Lewis Hamilton was quickest but Red Bull and Ferrari's performance suggested Mercedes may not be as dominant as many people thought.

    Throw in a bucket load of rain tomorrow and qualifying could be a cracker!

    We'll be back at 02:30 GMT for build up to final practice. Hopefully see you then!

  3. What happened in second practice?published at 06:43 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Andrew Benson
    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Melbourne

    Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton led Red Bull's Max Verstappen in second practice at the season-opening Australian GP.

    The top three teams appeared closely matched, with just 0.283secs separating Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

    Hamilton was 0.127 seconds clear of Verstappen, although the world champion looked as if he had more potential had he not lost time on his quickest lap.

    Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third, from the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

    Read more.

  4. Postpublished at 06:39 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

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  5. Postpublished at 06:39 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    A problem for Lance Stroll right at the end of the session after a practice start.

    "Shall I stop the car," he asks.

    He is told to employ maximum cooling and to be slow as he makes his way back to the pits.

    In the end he does go for stopping the car.

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  6. 'Game on'published at 06:36 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Jennie Gow
    BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporter

    My thoughts are that this is going to be good. Red Bull are bit spikier than we thought they might be, Mercedes look perky but I don't think they are as dominant as people thought they might be.

    Game on.

  7. Postpublished at 06:35 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Lewis Hamilton looking on it once again but Red Bull are right up there with Max Verstappen splitting the Mercedes.

    Also, superb effort from Romain Grosjean in the Haas. He was sixth quickest, just seven tenths off Hamilton's time.

    .Image source, F1.com
  8. chequered flag

    Chequered flagpublished at 06:31 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Lewis Hamilton finishes quickest in second practice for the Australian Grand Prix.

    Mercedes" British driver Lewis HamiltonImage source, EPA
  9. Postpublished at 06:28 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    It's busy on the track with just a couple of minutes remaining. No improvements likely, with the focus on long runs.

  10. Postpublished at 06:25 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Max Verstappen never passes up the opportunity to race as he dives down the inside of Pierre Gasly. Both cars run very close but the Red Bull just about squeezes through.

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  11. Postpublished at 06:22 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Into the final 10 minutes of the session as Lewis Hamilton moves onto supersofts.

  12. Postpublished at 06:18 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

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  13. What's happened so far today?published at 06:17 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    If you are just waking up in Europe, here's a quick summary of what's going down.

    • Lewis Hamilton looking strong once again - fastest in qualifying and race runs
    • However, Red Bull also looking good - Max Verstappen just 0.127s off Hamilton fastest time
    • Sebastian Vettel not looking comfortable - half a second down on Hamilton's time
    • McLaren had exhaust issues in first practice but have looked better in second practice
    • May all count for nothing anyway as rain is forecast for tomorrow and Sunday and it is boiling hot today.
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  14. Postpublished at 06:13 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Jolyon Palmer
    Former Renault driver

    The only thing I can think that could be is tyre warm up on the out lap. I can't imagine anything else you would want to have warm right now in the middle of a long run in sweltering heat.

  15. Postpublished at 06:12 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Max Verstappen is told to either deactivate the warm button or the warm butter. While the former makes more sense (sort of) the latter would be much more intriguing.

    Max VerstappenImage source, Getty Images
  16. Number crunchingpublished at 06:10 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Andrew Benson
    BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Melbourne

    Hamilton is quickest on these race simulation runs but is just under a tenth of a second quicker than Verstappen on average. Raikkonen is almost the same lap time Verstappen but Vettel is struggling. He is four or five tenths off those top three drivers.

  17. Postpublished at 06:07 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Valtteri Bottas fancies a change of scenery again, this time swapping gravel for grass as he goes wide at Turn 1.

    Valtteri BottasImage source, Reuters
  18. Postpublished at 06:06 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    "Default 34. Urgent," McLaren tell Fernando Alonso.

    Doesn't sound good...

  19. Postpublished at 06:04 Greenwich Mean Time 23 March 2018

    Daniel Ricciardo hasn't been back out to finish his qualifying simulation run, that's because his Red Bull is having a front suspension change.

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