Lewis Hamilton finished both Friday practice sessions for the Australian Grand Prix at the top of the timesheets, while Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg ended his second session in the wall.
Hamilton was quickest by 0.467s in second practice at Albert Park, but mixed conditions throughout both sessions made it impossible to make fair comparisons between drivers. After a heavy rain shower ahead of the second session, drivers were forced to stick to the intermediate tyres and set slower times than in first practice.
Rosberg was on a quick lap when he lost the rear of his Mercedes coming through Turn 7 and speared left into the wall. The accident brought his session to an end and wrecked the front of the Mercedes, which included one of the team's new S-duct noses. Mercedes has spares for later in the weekend, but sent Hamilton out with an old-spec nose for his quick lap so as not to risk another.
Force India continues to look impressive after testing and Sergio Perez set the fastest first and second sectors before losing the rear of the car in Turn 12 and backing off ahead of the final sector. He had the potential to better Hamilton's time, but conditions worsened on his next lap and he ran wide at Turn 1, putting an end to any chances of a headline-grabbing lap. Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg managed second fastest, however, with a good lap in similar conditions to Hamilton's.
Kimi Raikkonen was third for Ferrari, but set his lap in less favourable conditions, while Daniel Ricciardo was fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz, who set the fastest final sector towards the end of the session as conditions improved. The mix of sector times and teams in the top five underlines the impact the conditions had on lap times.
For the second session in a row, both McLarens were comfortably in the top ten ahead of Sebastian Vettel who has yet to show the true potential of his new Ferrari. Perez and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten.
Esteban Gutierrez was 11th in the Haas but ran wide at Turn 1 on a quick lap after losing control of the car under braking. Pascal Wherlein was 12th fastest ahead of Romain Grosjean, Manor team-mate Rio Haryanto and Rosberg. The remaining seven drivers opted not to set times and Marcus Ericsson, Felipe Nasr and Max Verstappen did not leave the dry comfort of the garage.
FP2 times:
1. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 1:38.841 - 6 laps
2. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India - 1:39.308 - 8 laps
3. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari - 1:39.486 - 7 laps
4. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull - 1:39.535 - 9 laps
5. Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso - 1:39. 694 - 16 laps
6. Fernando Alonso - McLaren - 1:39.895 - 16 laps
7. Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:40.008 - 13 laps
8. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 1:40.761 - 7 laps
9. Sergio Perez - Force India - 1:41.256 - 8 laps
10. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull - 1:42.411 - 10 laps
11. Esteban Gutierrez - Haas - 1:42.891 - 10 laps
12. Pascal Wehrlein - Manor - 1:43.401 - 24 laps
13. Romain Grosjean - Haas - 1:43.731 - 8 laps
14. Rio Haryanto - Manor - 1:44.304 - 22 laps
15. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 1:47.356 - 4 laps
16. Kevin Magnussen - Renault - No time - 2 laps
17. Jolylon Palmer - Renault - No time - 4 laps
18. Felipe Massa - Williams - No time - 5 laps
19. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - No time - 2 laps
20. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber - No time - 0 laps
21. Felipe Nasr - Sauber - No time - 0 laps
22. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso - No time - 0 laps