2015 F1 Round 1, Australian Grand Prix FP2: Rosberg fastest again as Magnussen crash halts practice

The Australian Grand Prix’s second practice session took place in Melbourne on Friday afternoon, with Rosberg topping the times on 1:27.697, just 0.100 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Recovery work following Magnussen’s crash and Ericsson’s suspension failure were the two incidents that disrupted the teams’ running.

Williams discovered a water leak on Felipe Massa’s car during checks after first practice and kept it in the garage for repairs, while Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull missed the session as its Renault engine was being replaced. These two issues left Friday afternoon’s session two cars short of the planned entry, with Bottas ultimately finishing fifth for Williams.

Romain Grosjean was trying to make up for lost time after suffering a hydraulic problem in first practice, but spun his Lotus during the second session. Team-mate Maldonado also went off the track and reported a loss of power. Maldonado ultimately finished eighth with 11 laps completed, while Grosjean was ninth after completing 37 laps.

Seventeen minutes into the session, Kevin Magnussen lost the rear of his car at Turn 6 and hit the outside barrier. The McLaren’s left-front suspension was damaged, and recovery and clean-up work caused a delay of around seven minutes. Practice running then continued.

Marcus Ericsson damaged the left-rear suspension of his Sauber after hitting the kerb hard on the exit of Turn 15. He had already completed a run before the incident and was ultimately classified 15th with 14 laps completed. Sauber’s other driver, Nasr, completed 33 laps and finished 11th.

Vettel led the way for Ferrari during the medium-tyre running, his 1:29.801 putting him ahead of Hamilton and Räikkönen. After switching to soft tyres, Vettel set a 1:28.412 to move briefly to the top of the timesheets, giving Ferrari a temporary advantage during the tyre changeover.

Mercedes switched to soft tyres later, and Rosberg reclaimed the lead with a 1:27.697. Hamilton was second on 1:27.797, just 0.100 seconds behind. Rosberg also reported that his DRS was not working properly, but still held on to the session’s fastest time.

Vettel and Räikkönen finished third and fourth respectively, with Bottas fifth. Red Bull driver Kvyat was sixth and Toro Rosso’s Sainz seventh. Mercedes secured a one-two finish, followed by the two Ferraris, with five teams represented in the top seven.