Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes one-two as the Silver Arrows pulled clear of the field in Practice 2 at the Australian Grand Prix.
The session began with Haas surprisingly setting the initial pace on the medium C3 tyres but that was until Hamilton and Bottas went out and set a series of fastest laps on the yellow-striped compound.
Max Verstappen managed to keep them in sight in third for Red Bull but Ferrari struggled to show the pace expected from pre-season, as Sebastian Vettel particularly struggled for grip.
In the qualifying runs, the gap only widened as no-one managed to beat Hamilton’s marker on the C3 using the softer C4.
The Briton then went on to improve to a 1m22.600s on the fastest rubber, though only 0.048s clear of teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Verstappen waited until the final 15 minutes to set a time on the C4 and improved to third but a massive eight-tenths off the pace with teammate Pierre Gasly just behind in fourth.
Vettel was a further 0.05s behind the Frenchman in fifth as Kimi Raikkonen continued as the lead midfield runner for Alfa Romeo in sixth.
The two Renault’s of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo followed in seventh and eighth. It wasn’t an easy session for the Australian as seat issues let him catching up but he would improve to within a tenth of his teammate.
Charles Leclerc was ninth in the second Ferrari and would spin during his race simulation exiting Turn 4. Romain Grosjean completed the top 10 for Haas.
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Once again the midfield was very compact with just 1.2s covering Raikkonen in sixth to Lando Norris in 18th for McLaren.
Daniil Kvyat was 11th for Toro Rosso, as rookie teammate Alex Albon continued his tricky first day around Albert Park with two off-track excursions but continued both times.
Lance Stroll had the advantage over Sergio Perez at Racing Point, with the Canadian in 13th and 0.4s clear of the Mexican.
Carlos Sainz was 14th for McLaren, indicating those two teams along with Antonio Giovinazzi and Albon will be battling to avoid Q1 elimination in qualifying.
Willams continued to bring up the rear with George Russell moving 0.2s clear of Robert Kubica but still four seconds off the pace.
Full standings from Practice 2 can be seen below:
