The Australian Grand Prix, the first round of this year's Formula 1 World Championship, got underway with the two ninety minute free practice sessions. As usual, Friday's work centred on finding the best set-up on the car and a comparison of the two types of tyre that Bridgestone supplied to the team. "The start of a new season is always a special feeling," commented Stefano Domenicali. "From a personal point of view, I cannot deny that this is a special day, my first on the pit wall as the head of the Gestione Sportiva. We are not entirely satisfied with the way practice went and we still have to work on finding the right balance on the car, both for qualifying tomorrow and for Sunday's race."
Kimi Raikkonen: "I am not very happy with the way practice went. This morning we found some good settings for the car, but in the afternoon, we struggled and our lap times reflect that. We must look carefully at the data to work out how to improve the car. We have seen that if we manage to find the right set-up, we have the potential to be competitive."
Felipe Massa: "All in all, I am happy with this start to the season. We were able to work towards the race and I think I will be able to run at a good pace on a long run. Because of going off the track, I was unable to try the last set of soft tyres available to me, but that's certainly not a big problem. The harder tyres are very consistent, while the other compound gives more grip on the first lap, but then suffers from greater degradation."
Luca Baldisserri: "A bit of a complicated day, especially in the second session. The set-up of Kimi's F2008 in the afternoon was certainly not the best and we need to work out exactly why. As for Felipe, he was pretty happy with the handling of his car. At the end, the Brazilian had an off-track excursion which meant he was forced to end his work programme a bit prematurely and it bore testimony to the fact that, this year, the margin for error is virtually nonexistent. Now we must prepare as well as possible for qualifying and the race. The weather conditions are very difficult and will provide a stern test of the cars's reliability."
Session 1
Pos Driver Constructor Time Laps
1 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari 1m26.461 25 2 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1m26.948 21 3 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari 1m26.958 25 4 Heikki Kovalainen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1m27.114 19 5 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m28.263 18 6 Fernando Alonso Renault 1m28.360 22 7 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1m28.579 12 8 Timo Glock Toyota 1m28.913 16 9 Sebastien Vettel Toro Rosso 1m28.957 22 10 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m29.014 23 11 Jenson Button Honda Racing 1m29.124 25 12 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m29.230 24 13 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1m29.301 5 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso 1m29.363 32 15 Rubens Barrichello Honda Racing 1m29.533 17 16 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1m29.561 7 17 Adrian Sutil Force India 1m30.155 13 18 Nelson Piquet Jr Renault 1m30.357 21 19 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1m31.048 7 20 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1m31.771 7 21 Kazuki Nakagima Williams F1 1m35.053 3 22 Nico Rosberg Williams F1
Session 2
Pos Driver Constructor Time Laps
1 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1m26.559 33 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m27.473 27 3 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari 1m27.640 29 4 Heikki Kovalainen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1m27.683 28 5 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1m28.037 26 6 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari 1m28.208 28 7 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m28.292 22 8 Nico Rosberg Williams F1 1m28.352 31 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m28.469 32 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1m28.582 28 11 Jenson Button Honda Racing 1m28.632 30 12 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1m28.731 32 13 Fernando Alonso Renault 1m28.779 37 14 Rubens Barrichello Honda Racing 1m28.849 28 15 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1m28.860 35 16 Kazuki Nakagima Williams F1 1m29.077 33 17 Adrian Sutil Force India 1m29.161 32 18 Sebastien Vettel Toro Rosso 1m29.193 40 19 Nelson Piquet Jr Renault 1m29.518 14 20 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso 1m29.605 11 21 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1m30.663 16 22 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1m31.527 8
Session 1
Pos Driver Constructor Time Laps
1 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari 1m26.461 25 2 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1m26.948 21 3 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari 1m26.958 25 4 Heikki Kovalainen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1m27.114 19 5 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m28.263 18 6 Fernando Alonso Renault 1m28.360 22 7 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1m28.579 12 8 Timo Glock Toyota 1m28.913 16 9 Sebastien Vettel Toro Rosso 1m28.957 22 10 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m29.014 23 11 Jenson Button Honda Racing 1m29.124 25 12 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m29.230 24 13 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1m29.301 5 14 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso 1m29.363 32 15 Rubens Barrichello Honda Racing 1m29.533 17 16 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1m29.561 7 17 Adrian Sutil Force India 1m30.155 13 18 Nelson Piquet Jr Renault 1m30.357 21 19 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1m31.048 7 20 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1m31.771 7 21 Kazuki Nakagima Williams F1 1m35.053 3 22 Nico Rosberg Williams F1
Session 2
Pos Driver Constructor Time Laps
1 Lewis Hamilton Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1m26.559 33 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m27.473 27 3 Felipe Massa Scuderia Ferrari 1m27.640 29 4 Heikki Kovalainen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1m27.683 28 5 David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1m28.037 26 6 Kimi Raikkonen Scuderia Ferrari 1m28.208 28 7 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m28.292 22 8 Nico Rosberg Williams F1 1m28.352 31 9 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m28.469 32 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1m28.582 28 11 Jenson Button Honda Racing 1m28.632 30 12 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1m28.731 32 13 Fernando Alonso Renault 1m28.779 37 14 Rubens Barrichello Honda Racing 1m28.849 28 15 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1m28.860 35 16 Kazuki Nakagima Williams F1 1m29.077 33 17 Adrian Sutil Force India 1m29.161 32 18 Sebastien Vettel Toro Rosso 1m29.193 40 19 Nelson Piquet Jr Renault 1m29.518 14 20 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso 1m29.605 11 21 Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1m30.663 16 22 Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1m31.527 8
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