McLaren on top at damp Albert Park
Jenson Button emerged fastest from Practice 2
McLaren duo Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have emerged fastest from a weather affected Practice 2 at Albert Park.
Having set a 1m25.8s benchmark midway through the session, light rain prevented rivals from eclipsing Button’s time.
Fernando Alonso was best of the rest in third, ahead of the Red Bull Racing entries of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.
Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez, Rubens Barrichello and Nico Rosberg rounded out the top 10.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team principal said he was encouraged by the day’s running.
“I think it’s been a solid day,” said Whitmarsh.
“Our cars have been reliable – we’ve run a brand new floor and exhaust.
“Everything has went with our expectations, so it’s been an encouraging day.
“But Friday doesn’t carry any points, and I think we’re yet to see the best of Red Bull.
“Hopefully we can go faster tomorrow as well – we’ll keep pushing.”
The HRT entries again failed to complete a flying lap, with an installation lap from Tonio Liuzzi the only running the new F111 has completed.
See below for the Practice 2 result
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time/Retired | Gap |
| 1 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:25.854 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:25.986 | 0.132 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:26.001 | 0.147 |
| 4 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:26.014 | 0.160 |
| 5 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:26.283 | 0.429 |
| 6 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes GP | 1:26.590 | 0.736 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:26.789 | 0.935 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:27.101 | 1.247 |
| 9 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 1:27.280 | 1.426 |
| 10 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes GP | 1:27.448 | 1.594 |
| 11 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 1:27.525 | 1.671 |
| 12 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 1:27.528 | 1.674 |
| 13 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 1:27.536 | 1.682 |
| 14 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:27.697 | 1.843 |
| 15 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:28.095 | 2.241 |
| 16 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:28.376 | 2.522 |
| 17 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:28.583 | 2.729 |
| 18 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 1:29.386 | 3.532 |
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 1:30.829 | 4.975 |
| 20 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 1:30.912 | 5.058 |
| 21 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:32.106 | 6.252 |
| 22 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 1:32.135 | 6.281 |
| 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | ||
| 24 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth |