The Spanish veteran followed up his podium finishes at the first two races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with another eye-opening run.
MELBOURNE - Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets ahead of Ferrari ace Charles Leclerc in a rain-hit second practice at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday, but world champion Max Verstappen went fastest for the day.
"We need to learn more about the tyres and the long-run pace of the car because there was not much time for that today. So far though the car seems to behave well." But the Dutchman had no decent opportunity to improve on it on a wet track, saying it was slippery and he had low grip. His teammate George Russell was fourth ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, with Alpine's Esteban Ocon sixth.
As in FP1, Sainz was first out and set the early pace before Verstappen, who made his debut at the 2015 Australian GP as a 17-year-old, quickly took over to power clear.
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