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 Malaysian GP: Friday Practice Report

RAIKKONEN FRIDAY'S FINEST

Kimi Raikkonen was the first driver to beat Michael Schumacher’s fastest time from the first session before improving to a 1:37.399, a time that would remain unbeaten throughout the session.

Schumacher lost his early advantage to end up behind both the McLarens

The Finn, who set the fastest lap in Australia on his way to third position, was supremely aggressive throughout the session, using the entire track and a bit more in his Michelin shod McLaren Mercedes.

David Coulthard, who now holds the record for the most number of starts with any one team, set the second fastest time of the session, but will be disappointed o find himself six-tenths of a second adrift of Raikkonen.

Following his mechanical problems in the first hour, when the ‘collection box’ caused him to sit out the session, the Scot then suffered a spin early in the second session before bolting on fresh rubber to set his best lap of the day.

Michael Schumacher was third fastest in his Ferrari, but is unlikely to be too concerned to find himself behind both McLaren Mercedes drivers, as the German did not put on fresh tyres for the second practice hour. Pushing as hard as ever, Schumacher suffered another spin after the rear wheels locked before driving briefly against the flow of traffic before spin turning and continuing. However, Schumacher was not the only driver to spin as he searched for the limits of adhesion.

Ralf Schumacher on his way to fourth place in practice

Ralf Schumacher set the fourth fastest time in his BMW Williams while team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya completed a nice 360 degree spin at turn five on his way to sixth position. The Colombian also recorded the highest speed along the start finish straight indicating that the BMW V10 still has plenty of power.

Mika Salo was an astonishing fifth fastest in his Toyota, but the time is by their own admission more a confidence boost than anything else, as it was set with a low fuel load and fresh rubber. However, it was once again an impressive performance from the team.

Rubens Barrichello’s session ended 15-minutes prematurely as he pulled his F2001 off to the side of the track with a rare mechanical problem and subsequently dropped to seventh position overall ahead of the Renault duo of Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli.

There were mixed fortunes at the Sauber Petronas team as Nick Heidfeld had a trouble-free session to take the tenth fastest time, while Felipe Massa missed most of the session after spinning out in sympathy with Enrique Bernoldi's Arrows. It was a rookie error from the talented Brazilian, but it cost him an awful lot of track time this afternoon.

Salo started the weekend strongly for Toyota

Allan McNish was 11th quickest in the second Toyota ahead of Pedro de la Rosa in the faster of the two Jaguar R3s. The Spaniard ran inside the top-ten for much of the session, but a Cosworth engine failure saw him sit out the final minutes of the session. There were no such problems for Eddie Irvine, but in 20th position, it has been a dismal day for the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix winner.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen was 13th quickest just two positions clear of his under-rated team-mate Enrique Bernoldi, while Jordan Honda will be disappointed to see Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato back in 14th and 16th positions respectively.

At least Jordan managed to out-pace both over steering BAR Honda's of Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis who recorded the 17th and 18th fastest times ahead of Alex Yoong in his Minardi Asiatech.

Mark Webber's dismal day continued as he blew his Asiatech V10 on his very first lap out of the pits. After spinning out of the morning session, the Australian completed just six timed laps today and is unsurprisingly the slowest man of the day.

The Sauber squad had a disappointing Friday

With both practice session's complete, the teams will now begin to work on their qualifying set-ups but at this early stage, it looks likely that the Malaysian Grand Prix will see the usual suspects at the sharp end come tomorrow's all important qualifying hour.

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