Magny-Cours, 14th July 2006

It is a national holiday today here in France, but that is not why the two Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 248 F1 cars stayed in their garage during this morning's first free practice session of the weekend. Track conditions are very particular here and that was especially the case today as one once again temperatures in the air and on the track were in the mid thirties and forties respectively. For this reason, the decision was taken to miss the morning practice to give track conditions time to stabilise as a bit. In fact, although Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa's names did not appear on the morning time sheet, eight other drivers did not record a timed lap.

But it was back to business as usual in the afternoon, when as expected the Friday-only drivers dominated the top end of the time sheet. It seems to have become almost a tradition that BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica tops the time sheet and he did again today, when he was the only man to break the 1m 17s barrier. Second place went to series leader, Fernando Alonso in the Renault, followed by Anthony Davidson in the Honda. Fourth spot went to Alex Wurz in the Williams, fifth was Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault, with Michael Schumacher completing the top six, having completed 16 laps. Felipe Massa was thirteenth. The times and positions are not representative of very much and in fact, both drivers are happy with the balance of their cars and, very importantly the Bridgestones were working well over the long runs that make up the bulk of Friday's work. As for the all-important track conditions, a heavy storm is scheduled to hit Magny-Cours this evening, which could make tomorrow morning's free practice very important as the final chance to assess the new grip levels prior to qualifying.