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Hamilton in command in the rain at Melbourne

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain speaks to a team technician while he stands in his garage during the second practice session at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain speaks to a team technician while he stands in his garage during the second practice session at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain speaks to a team technician while he stands in his garage during the second practice session at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia

LEWIS Hamilton began the defence of his Formula One title in the best-possible fashion by topping the timesheets in both of yesterday’s rain-affected practice sessions.

Hamilton completed only 21 laps at Melbourne’s Albert Park with heavy rain and intermittent rain causing havoc to the start of the new season.

Nico Rosberg, bidding to stop his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton from winning three successive championships, was the day’s biggest victim after he dropped his car in the slippery conditions and crashed into the wall.

The 30-year-old German sustained damage to his front wing and while he attempted to limp back to the pits, he was told to stop on track. Rosberg, after hitching a lift back to the paddock, then watched the remainder of the session from the back of the Mercedes garage.

In contrast, Hamilton was nearly half-a-second faster than the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg with Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari third. But with such limited running, due to the inclement conditions, little can be learned from the times which were posted.

“For the people tuning in at home it must have been boring,” Hamilton, 31, said.

“Definitely someone was having their breakfast, or eating their food, and their head fell into their plate, because it must have been super boring.

“There is not too much running because it is wet and slippery, but I am happy with how the session went. I hope that tomorrow is a better day. Today has been up and down, and it is almost like we have brought the British weather with us.”

Asked how he felt to be leading the order, Hamilton replied: “It doesn’t really mean anything, but I definitely feel like I got what I needed. I didn’t make any mistakes so I was really happy.”

One man who did make a rather embarrassing faux pas was Hamilton’s rival Rosberg.

“That wasn’t a good start to the weekend for me,” he said.

“It was very wet out there, which made it tricky. It’s a shame that I lost the car in P2. I just applied a little too much throttle through Turn 7, spun round and touched the wall.

“My front wing was quite damaged, so unfortunately the boys will have some extra work to do tonight.”

Albert Park had bathed in 32 degree heat as the drivers conducted their media duties on Thursday, but fast-forward 24 hours and they were greeted by an altogether different prospect.

The temperate dropped to just 16 degrees yesterday with the bad weather likely to leave the fans who descended upon Albert Park feeling feeling reactively short-changed. The changeable conditions are set to continue through until today, but the race is expected to be dry.