Mercedes 0.7s clear of Ferrari in FP2

Nico Rosberg was fastest again in FP2 for the Australian Grand Prix as Kevin Magnussen crashed his McLaren.

Having topped the times in the opening session, Rosberg posted a time of 1:27.697 to go exactly 0.1s clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton on Friday afternoon. The fastest time was more than two seconds quicker than the best - set by Hamilton - in the same session a year ago.

Sebastian Vettel was third quickest for Ferrari during the soft tyre runs, beating team-mate Kimi Raikkonen by 0.4s as the Finn admitted he completed an untidy lap. While the two Ferraris were closest to Mercedes, Vettel was still over 0.7s slower than Rosberg.

Having struggled for mileage in the first session, McLaren’s cause was not helped by Magnussen hitting the wall on the outside of Turn 6 to bring out the red flags. Magnussen lost the rear of the MP4-30 under braking and ran through the gravel, damaging the front left corner after just four laps. Jenson Button offered some encouragement but completing 21 laps but was over 3.6s off the fastest time.

Valtteri Bottas was fifth quickest for Williams - 1.5s adrift on the softs - but was having to carry out the work of two cars as Felipe Massa was unable to run during FP2. A problem in the opening session was diagnosed as a water leak which forced Massa to sit out the whole of second practice.

Massa wasn’t alone in his problems, with Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull requiring a power unit change which left him also unable to run. Daniil Kvyat offered some encouragement for the team with the sixth fastest time, but was more than two seconds slower than the Mercedes pair.

One team that did run after sitting out FP1 was Sauber. Court proceedings continue in to Saturday but both cars took to the track at the very start of the second session. There were still problems, however, with Marcus Ericsson being forced to pit after 14 laps with a left rear suspension failure which occurred when running on to the exit kerb at the final corner.

Max Verstappen’s running was also limited as he completed just six laps, while Manor again failed to take to the track as it works on software issues having faced a race against time just to make it to Melbourne.

Click here for Friday's gallery from the Australian Grand Prix

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