McLaren dominated second practice in Melbourne to take a 1-2, the only two men to dip below 1:26, seemingly shrugging off any pre-season pace worries they may have had.
Once again Fernando Alonso secured the third quickest time, just +0.147 behind Button’s quickest lap.
The two Red Bull’s, which had topped first free practice, dropped to fourth and fifth, with Vettel leading Webber this time around.
The FIA ran the session under race conditions for the final 30 minutes, allowing the teams to test the overtaking zone along the straight/finish.
This was when Button posted his quickest timed lap.
Sergio Perez jumped to eighth quickest, outpacing his team-mate by almost a second. Rubens Barrichello slotted into ninth ahead of Nico Rosberg.
Hispania failed to set a time lap in either FP1 nor FP2, but did manage to complete an installation lap with Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Australian GP Free Practice 2 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | J. Button | McLaren | 1:25.854 | 32 | |
| 04. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:26.014 | +0.160 | 35 |
| 02. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:25.986 | +0.132 | 31 |
| 13. | N. Heidfeld | Renault | 1:27.536 | +1.682 | 22 |
| 10. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:27.448 | +1.594 | 33 |
| 05. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:26.283 | +0.429 | 33 |
| 16. | P. di Resta | Force India | 1:28.376 | +2.522 | 33 |
| 03. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:26.001 | +0.147 | 28 |
| 07. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:26.786 | +0.935 | 34 |
| 06. | M Schumacher | Mercedes | 1:26.590 | +0.736 | 31 |
| 18. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 1:29.386 | +3.532 | 29 |
| 17. | A. Sutil | Force India | 1:28.583 | +2.729 | 31 |
| 12. | V. Petrov | Renault | 1.27.528 | +1.674 | 29 |
| 14. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | 1:27.697 | +1.843 | 30 |
| 08. | S. Perez | Sauber | 1:27.101 | +1.247 | 39 |
| 15. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 1:28.095 | +2.241 | 35 |
| 11. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | 1:27.525 | +1.671 | 31 |
| 22. | T. Glock | Virgin | 1:32.135 | +6.281 | 30 |
| 19. | H. Kovalainen | Team Lotus | 1:30.829 | +4.975 | 22 |
| 21. | J d’Ambrosio | Virgin | 1.32.106 | +6.252 | 36 |
| 20. | J. Trulli | Team Lotus | 1:30.912 | +5.058 | 23 |
| 23. | V. Liuzzi | Hispania | No Time | 1 | |
| 09. | R. Barrichello | Williams | 1:27.280 | +1.426 | 34 |
| 24. | N. Karthikeyan | Hispania | No Time |
