2018 F1 Round 1 Australian GP FP2 — Hamilton fastest again, top three covered by 0.228s

The Australian Grand Prix’s second practice session continued at Albert Park on the afternoon of 23 March. With initial setups established during the morning, teams began comparing different tyres and conducting longer runs. The afternoon’s lap times and long-run data therefore offered more information than the opening session’s timesheet alone.

Lewis Hamilton was fastest again with a 1:23.931, improving on the morning’s best lap by 0.095 seconds. Max Verstappen was only 0.127 seconds behind in second, with Valtteri Bottas third, 0.228 seconds off the lead. The entire top three was within 0.23 seconds, indicating a small single-lap gap between Mercedes and Red Bull during this session.

Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel were fourth and fifth, with the Ferraris 0.283 and 0.520 seconds behind respectively. Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari again filled the top five. Long-run pace, tyre degradation and pit-stop windows still needed further assessment in light of Saturday’s track temperatures.

Haas driver Romain Grosjean was sixth and team-mate Kevin Magnussen ninth, while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne took eighth and tenth. Only a few tenths separated several midfield teams. Track temperature and traffic in qualifying could change their positions, with the order from a single practice session remaining provisional.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh, 0.663 seconds slower than team-mate Verstappen. The Australian attracted extra attention at his home race and also received a pre-race penalty for a red-flag procedure infringement during practice. The team had to balance his Sunday grid position with its normal practice work, aiming to gather uninterrupted long-run data.

Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley was sixteenth and Pierre Gasly seventeenth. Both completed more than 30 laps, helping the team check power-unit and chassis reliability. The two Sauber drivers occupied the final two positions as they continued to seek a stable car balance for the new season.

Hartley completed 41 laps, the highest total in the official record. Several teams conducted long-run programmes at the same time, so the fastest lap alone could not fully represent their race pace. After Friday’s running, engineers still had to combine the two sessions’ information on fuel loads, soft-tyre laps and tyre wear.

Hamilton remained fastest with a 1:23.931, followed by Verstappen and Bottas, with only 0.228 seconds covering the top three. The table lists the official order, time gaps and lap totals for all 20 cars, providing a complete record of Friday’s final practice session.