Hamilton continues dominant form at Albert Park

Lewis Hamilton further emphasised Mercedes’ dominance after topping the times in the second practice session at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Brit once again lit up the timing screens posting a 1:23.620s which was 0.6s faster than the effort he clocked to top the opening 90 minute session at Albert Park.

Hamilton’s pace saw him earn a 0.5s buffer over the rest of the field with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel emerging as Mercedes’ nearest rival.

Valtteri Bottas confirmed Mercedes’ strong start to the season in third, albeit 0.556s shy of his team-mate.

Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in the sister Ferrari while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo could only manage fifth in his revised RB13.

The Australian, who was third fastest in FP1, was a second adrift of Hamilton’s benchmark.

Team-mate Max Verstappen emerged 0.3s further back in sixth while Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso), Romain Grosjean (Haas F1), Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top 10.

The session was red flagged with 65 minutes remaining when Renault’s Jolyon Palmer lost control at the final corners and clouted the tyre barriers.

Palmer’s car suffered heavy damage to the rear following the impact.

He wasn’t the only driver to encounter a problem after Felipe Massa’s Williams ground to a halt with a suspected gearbox problem.

In the final minutes, Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson spun into the gravel trap at Turn 6.

Result: Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix Practice 2