Friday Practice

At the first day of practice all the drivers went out to try and post times and get to grips with the Melbourne track. Most of the drivers went off at some point but all were small spins as they got used to the new aero packages and slick tyres. At the end of Second Practice the times are:

01. ROSBERG Williams 1m26.053s
02. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m26.157s
03. TRULLI Toyota 1m26.350s
04. WEBBER Red Bull 1m26.370s
05. BUTTON Brawn 1m26.374s
06. GLOCK Toyota 1m26.443s
07. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m26.560s
08. VETTEL Red Bull 1m26.740s
09. SUTIL Force India 1m27.040s
10. MASSA Ferrari 1m27.064s
11. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m27.204s
12. ALONSO Renault 1m27.232s
13. FISICHELLA Force India 1m27.282s
14. HEIDFELD BMW 1m27.317s
15. KUBICA BMW 1m27.398s
16. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m27.479s
17. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m27.802s
18. HAMILTON McLaren 1m27.813s
19. PIQUET Renault 1m27.828s
20. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m28.076s

Kimi Raikkonen was fastest for most of the two sessions but didn't go out at the end of session two. At the end of the first session both the Williams were quickest with the Brawns close behind in 3rd and 5th.

It would seem that the McLarens were struggling for pace with Hamilton having several offs and getting into the top ten only briefly. This is early days however and no doubt Renault, Ferrari and McLaren will be stronger at the end of Saturday's practice ready for qualifying.