Australian Grand Prix, FP2 Session

Ferrari showed once again it's pre-race status as favourite is justifiable by ending Friday's free practice for the Australian Grand Prix with Felipe Massa 1st and Kimi Raikkonen 2nd fastest.

Felipe was in control for most of the second session, but Fernando Alonso, Nick Heidfeld and Lewis Hamilton all tried and failed to break the Ferrari man's grasp.

But the British rookie Lewis ended his first day as a grand prix driver 3rd overall and best of the rest. He outpaced his double-world champion teammate Fernando by 0.211s, who could only manage 7th.

With most of the teams going out as soon as the session began Felipe Massa immediately set the pace and lowered Fernando’s morning mark to 1m29.1s, but just behind, the impressive Lewis snapped at his heels.

With the pair swiftly chasing the target time down into the 1m28s bracket, it wasn’t long before Fernando and Kimi joined them.

By the end of the first runs the order had taken on a test feel to it, Felipe’s 1m28.111s put him 0.4s clear of the pack, which was led by Fernando, with Kimi a further 0.1s back, just in front of Lewis.

Just before the half hour mark, BMW's Robert Kubica, having sat out morning practice, spoilt the McLaren/Ferrari domination by going second quickest – proving that the German squad can mix it with the top two this weekend.
And just as Fernando moved back to the front with an hour still to go, the Pole's teammate Nick Heidfeld lapped within a tenth of Kubica to prove the point.

Then the red flags came out at half distance after Heikki Kovalainen's Renault stopped on the track with a fuel system problem and Rubens Barrichello crashed at Turn 14.
Both had yet to try for quick laps.

When the session restarted, Felipe reclaimed his place at the front with a lap of 1m27.868s.
And while Heidfeld initially tried to outpace the Ferrari, Felipe ran a number of hot laps and worked down to an eventual, and unreachable, 1m27.353s time.

Teammate Kimi waited until the dying moments of the session to join Felipe at the front of the queue, the Finn having spent most of his afternoon on long runs.
But even Kimi's best would still fall 0.4s short of Felipe’s.

Lewis's fastest lap came late in the session as he kept at bay a determined effort from Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella, who was fourth quickest.
But the world champion team will be concerned that both its drivers were forced to park their cars out on track with the same fuel system problem before the end of the session.
 
No such worries for Heidfeld, who claimed fifth after a particularly consistent run following the red flag period.
A brilliant and unexpected flier late on for Alex Wurz put him in sixth for Williams, while teammate Nico Rosberg proved the team's pace in eighth.

Fernando worryingly dropped away from the fight after the red flag and ended the day 0.68s off the ultimate pace in seventh, while Kubica and Red Bull's David Coulthard completed the top ten.

Anthony Davidson made it a great day for Super Aguri as the Honda B-team drivers outpaced the factory squad.
The Englishman, embarking on his first full season as a grand prix driver, was 11th fastest after a session-long battle with his teammate Takuma Sato who ended up 13th behind Toyota's Jarno Trulli.

For much of the 90 minutes Jenson Button looked like a candidate for the top ten, but in the final analysis he slipped down the order to 14th.
The crest-fallen Brit had predicted as much yesterday.

Rubens Barrichello wiped out at Turn 14, lightly damaging but beaching his car in the gravel, and was thus forced to watch as he slipped down the order to 15th, just ahead of Ralf Schumacher.
Mark Webber could not match David Coulthard's pace in the second Red Bull in 17th ahead of Kovalainen's stricken Renault.

Toro Rosso, rather unexpectedly, could find themselves in a fight on and off the track with Spyker this weekend.
Spyker chief Colin Kolles will have been pleased to see Adrian Sutil and Christijan Albers taking the fight to Scott Speed and Tonio Liuzzi.

Teena B © enterF1.co.uk