Russell headed the second hour of running by just 0.06s over Piastri, the Mercedes driver running later in the session than most.

The weather had significantly improved since Free Practice 1, with a dry track welcoming teams.

Earlier, running had begun in conditions suitable for the full wet tyres before drying out as the hour progressed.

The blustery wind remained, however, pushing cars deep into the Tarzan hairpin at the start of the lap and drawing a number of mistakes.

Nico Hulkenberg was among them, the Haas driver drawing the red flag when he lost control after around 15 minutes.

Unsurprisingly, it was a comparatively busy start as teams looked to make up for the lost running earlier in the day.

There was an early helmet change for Oscar Piastri, the Australian reporting he couldn’t see as he initially went out.

He was swiftly back in without setting a time before returning to the track.

Like most, he was on the medium compound tyres, only Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly on a set of hard tyres taking a different approach.

That suggested the white-walled rubber was the preferred option heading into the race as most teams looked to save the hard compound sets.

The tentative start flowed into a busy middle of the session after the Hulkenberg red flag as qualifying simulations began.

Norris set the initial pace with a 1:10.961s, a time bettered by Piastri with a 1:10.763s, the McLaren pair leaving Max Verstappen only third fastest.

Sergio Perez ran off the road at Tarzan, mirroring the offs from opening practice where he pinched the inside brake to slide off the road at the right-hand hairpin.

Verstappen, had been the initial pace setter with a 1:12.131s before the qualifying simulations but he was seemingly from comfortable.

He slid through Turn 7 kicking up the dirt on the exit of the fast right-hander, ending the session fifth and 0.284s back from Russell.

The pace-setting Mercedes ran his qualifying simulation later than most, recording a time that was 0.06s faster than Piastri’s effort some minutes prior.

Russell had skidded off the road at Turn 9 early in the session, running into the gravel with smoke pouring from the front axle.

Lewis Hamilton was only a tenth slower than his team-mate on his performance run, suggesting little between the top three teams as he slotted in third fastest.

It was a shortened session for Carlos Sainz, a gearbox issue curtailed his running and left him only 19th, ahead only of Hulkenberg.

Just after the 15-minute marker, the Haas driver drew the red flag after spinning at Tarzan.

Hulkenberg locked the rear brakes into the right-hander, pitching him into a spin which saw his car bounce through the gravel and into the barrier on the outside of the corner.

Hulkenberg was able to climb free without injury, but without explanation for why the rear end locked up – his session over nonetheless.

Neither he nor Sainz logged a qualifying simulation lap, leaving them at the foot of the timesheets.

Daniel Ricciardo ended the session 13th fastest, the Australian cut off in the pit lane as Sauber released Zhou Guanyu into his path.

Ricciardo’s best was 1:11.630s, nine-tenths away from the outright pace and three-tenths back from RB team-mate Yuki Tsunoda who ended the session seventh.

A final hour of practice remains, beginning at 19:30 AEST on Saturday.