Sepang, 6th April 2007

As usual here in Malaysia, high temperatures - up to 43° C ambient and 49 on the track - are the key theme for this second round of the world championship. But the teams knew what to expect as ten of them, including Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro had already tested here last week, the first time a Formula 1 session has ever been held at the Sepang circuit. In the past, a test session a week before a race would mean very few laps on Friday, as teams were mindful of conserving the life of their engines and their tyres. However, with new rules making Friday virtually a free test day - the Melbourne race engines will be refitted into the two F2007 overnight - both our drivers were able to do enough laps to complete a full Friday programme. In fact, after there had been some concerns about the state of the Australian race engine in Raikkonen's car, the Finn was delighted that he would be able to use it again as from tomorrow morning, thus avoiding any possible grid penalty for an engine change. Kimi was slightly less happy with the handling of his car and ended the first three hours of free practice in fourth place. On the other side of the Scuderia's pit garage, Felipe Massa reckoned he had a good day, which would be the case as the Brazilian was fastest both in the morning and the afternoon. While the pecking order between the top teams since winter testing has suggested a very slight advantage for the Scuderia over McLaren-Mercedes, this afternoon, it was the reigning world champion team that lined up behind Massa, with the Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen second and third respectively. Behind Kimi in fifth and sixth places were the Williams-Toyotas of Nico Rosberg and Alexander Wurz.