Melbourne, 26 March

Melbourne is known as being the most European Australian city in terms of its weather and that proved to be the case today, with the Albert Park circuit bathed in warm sunshine during the first practice session, while the second one got underway with rain falling on the track before intermittently getting dry and wet again throughout the ninety minutes. Therefore the time sheet is not the place to go to learn who might do well in qualifying and the race, because the drivers’ fastest lap times are more a reflection of when they were out on track and with what fuel load.



Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso set the fourth and sixth fastest times respectively in FP1, while in FP2 the Spaniard was fifteenth and the Brazilian seventeenth. As more rain is forecast this weekend, possibly for the race itself, at least the data gathered during the wet time on track will come in useful when planning strategy and giving the drivers an idea how much grip they can expect in various conditions. The Spaniard ran an updated front wing today, while the Brazilian used the original one so that data from the two could be compared and with the newer version showing positive results, both drivers now have the option of using it for the rest of the weekend.

McLaren took the “front row” with Lewis Hamilton quickest ahead of Jenson Button. The only Australian in F1, Mark Webber, was third fastest at his home race for Red Bull Racing, with Michael Schumacher, a four times winner in Melbourne, fourth for Mercedes. Fifth was Renault’s Russian rookie, Vitaly Petrov, while Sebastien Buemi completed the top six for Scuderia Toro Rosso.

With the timetable in Melbourne shifted to suit more global TV viewers, the final free practice session takes place at 2 in the afternoon tomorrow, with qualifying starting at 5.