MELBOURNE – Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets for Aston Martin in a rain-hit second free practice at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday, after Formula One champion Max Verstappen was quickest in the dry first session.

The 41-year-old Spaniard was quick to post a lap of 1min 18.887sec on medium tyres before the rain came and finished nearly half a second clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull’s defending two-time world champion Verstappen was third quickest ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell but caution took priority over pace and the conditions allowed for little meaningful running.

Lewis Hamilton, second fastest in the first session, posted only the 13th fastest lap in the second and spent much of it in the garage as engineers tinkered with his car.

He blamed changes made to the car between the two hour-long runs for the gaping difference.

The car “felt a little bit better this morning, we made some changes, they didn’t work, so we’ll revise those tonight”, he said.

“Then it rained obviously so it wasn’t the best of sessions. You don’t really learn a huge amount when it’s between (conditions), so just keep the car safe.”

But he did learn enough to know that come race day on Sunday, Mercedes will again be playing catch-up to Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez.

On the high-speed, power-friendly Jeddah track a fortnight ago, Mercedes showed signs of life, with Hamilton fifth and his teammate George Russell fourth.

It was a clear improvement from the season-opening race in Bahrain and they bettered the Ferraris, but were still behind Alonso and the Red Bull duo.

Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz almost collided in traffic in Melbourne as cars jammed the track before the rain, but McLaren’s Lando Norris was the first to come to grief when the weather changed as he slid into grass and gravel at turn 1.

The rain sent most drivers back for a long stretch in the garage but a few emerged later in the session.

Leclerc and Sainz came out on soft tyres but soon pitted to change to the mediums after struggling for grip, as Alonso’s early time went unchallenged.

Pit-stop penalties clarified

Off the track, Formula One officials confirmed on Friday that teams can no longer touch their cars with jacks during penalty pit stops in the wake of the Alonso controversy at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The veteran was handed a five-second penalty for an error on the starting grid at Jeddah and then another for failing to serve it properly – the rear jack being in contact with his car before the five seconds were up.

The additional penalty saw the twice world champion demoted to fourth from third but stewards later rowed back on the decision after Aston Martin successfully appealed against it, putting Alonso back on the podium.

With teams banned from working on cars during penalty pit stops, the governing FIA issued a directive to clear up the matter.

“For clarity and until further notice, in this context the physical touching of the car or driver by hand, tools or equipment (including the front and rear jacks) during any such penalty will all be considered to constitute work,” the FIA said.

The directive follows an FIA decision to widen grid slots at Albert Park for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix after Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Alonso were penalised for missing their marks in the season’s first two races.

Back on the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Verstappen topped an eventful first practice session under blue skies, lapping in 1:18.790, nearly half a second quicker than Hamilton.

Two red flags disrupted the session.

It was halted midway through due to a GPS failure, which organisers said made teams unable to monitor car positions and closing speeds.

The second red flag cut the session short by a few minutes, as Williams rookie Logan Sargeant came to a halt on track-side grass with an apparent power failure.

Sargeant did not emerge from the Williams garage to post a lap in the second session.

Perez was third quickest, with Alonso fourth.

Verstappen finished the earlier with a bit of drama, taking a big spin at turn 4 to ruin his tyres.

Leclerc and Sainz were fifth and sixth quickest with Norris seventh.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was eighth fastest ahead of Russell.

Home hero and McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri was 12th and 14th in his runs.

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, the slowest of the 20 cars in the first session, skidded into the gravel, while AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda also locked up at high speed to take a big slide through gravel midway through. REUTERS, AFP