McLarens lead the way

McLaren ended fears over their chances this season by topping practice ahead of the Australian GP in Melbourne.

Button and Hamilton top the timings at Albert Park

McLaren ended fears over their chances this season by topping practice ahead of the Australian GP in Melbourne. McLaren's pre-season had hardly gone to plan, forcing the team to roll out their heavily modified MP4-26 for the practices sessions on Friday. And the changes, including the implementation of an exhaust system similar to Ferrari and Red Bull, paid immediate dividends as Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton topped the second practice session. Button, who has won the past two Australian GPs, topped the timings in 1:25.854 with Hamilton just 0.132s behind his team-mate. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was third home despite earlier reporting an issue wqith his F150, with the Spaniard finishing ahead of the Red Bull's of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Michael Schumacher had to settle for sixth, with Felipe Massa and Sauber rookie Sergio Perez close behind. The top-10 of an open session was completed by Rubens Barrichello and Nico Rosberg. The lead at the top of the standings swapped hands several times, with Perez setting the early pace before Alonso, Schumacher, Massa, Hamilton and then Button all took over at the top. The final 10 minutes of the session saw no change in the best times as light rain saw race control declaring the "wet track", which meant the drivers were no longer permitted to use their adjustable rear wings.

Cheer

The first practice session at Albert Park had been dominated by the Red Bull duo. Webber gave his home fans plenty to cheer as he overhauled his team-mate, and reigning world champion, Vettel in the dying seconds. Webber recorded a time of 1:26.831, with Vettel 0.327s adrift - with the Red Bulls leaving their rivals in their wake. Alonso was 0.918s off Webber's pace, while Mercedes' Rosberg was back in fourth and Williams' Barrichello - although they were 1.321secs and 1.599secs adrift respectively. Button and Hamilton had to settle for sixth and seventh, ahead of Schumacher in his Mercedes, Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi and Renault's Vitaly Petrov

First practice times

01. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:26.831 20 laps
02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:27.158 19 laps
03. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:27.749 20 laps
04. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:28.152 16 laps
05. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:28.430 24 laps
06. Jenson Button McLaren 01:28.440 29 laps
07. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:28.483 26 laps
08. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 01:28.690 14 laps
09. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:28.725 13 laps
10. Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:28.765 15 laps
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:28.842 20 laps
12. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:28.928 14 laps
13. Adrian Sutil Force India 01:29.314 19 laps
14. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:29.328 21 laps
15. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:29.403 24 laps
16. Daniel Ricciardo Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:29.468 23 laps
17. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:29.643 18 laps
18. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 01:31.002 20 laps
19. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 01:32.428 13 laps
20. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:35.282 17 laps
21. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:35.289 15 laps
22. Karun Chandhok Team Lotus no time 1 laps
23. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania no time
24. Vitantonio Liuzzi Hispania no time

Second practice times

01. Jenson Button McLaren 01:25.854 32 laps
02. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 01:25.986 31 laps
03. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:26.001 28 laps
04. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:26.014 35 laps
05. Mark Webber Red Bull 01:26.283 33 laps
06. Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 01:26.590 31 laps
07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:26.789 34 laps
08. Sergio Perez Sauber 01:27.101 39 laps
09. Rubens Barrichello Williams 01:27.280 34 laps
10. Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:27.448 23 laps
11. Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.525 31 laps
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:27.528 29 laps
13. Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:27.536 22 laps
14. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 01:27.697 30 laps
15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 01:28.095 35 laps
16. Paul di Resta Force India F1 01:28.376 33 laps
17. Adrian Sutil Force India F1 01:28.583 31 laps
18. Pastor Maldonado Williams 01:29.386 29 laps
19. Heikki Kovalainen Team Lotus 01:30.829 22 laps
20. Jarno Trulli Team Lotus 01:30.912 23 laps
21. Jerome d' Ambrosio Virgin Racing 01:32.106 36 laps
22. Timo Glock Virgin Racing 01:32.926 30 laps
23. Vitantonio Liuzzi Hispania no time 1 lap
24. Narain Karthikeyan Hispania no time