Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 36.646s P6/1m 35.707s, P1
Felipe Massa, 1m 36.561s, P5/1m 35.832s, P2
Ferrari had a positive day, with Raikkonen and Massa setting the fastest times overall as they dominated the second session. Certainly their KERS were helping them to get down the main straights very quickly, though Raikkonen had a problem with his in the morning when the batteries short-circuited. Massa complained of understeer in high-speed corners and oversteer in the low-speed turns, but said his car got better as the day progressed and the temperature rose.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 36.260s, P1/1m 36.015s, P4
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 36.305s, P2/1m 36.290s, P8
Rosberg and Nakajima dominated the first session with the two quickest laps right at the end. The German was happy with the way things went in the afternoon too, though he lost a good lap when Fisichella brought out the yellows in sector three. Nakajima also made positive noises.
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Brawn GP
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 36.487s, P4/1m 36.161s, P6
Jenson Button, 1m 36.430s, P3/1m 36.254s, P7
There were no fireworks from Brawn today, as Barrichello and Button set about learning their cars’ behaviour in such hot track conditions. Both struggled to balance out understeer, and said that the BGP001 was not yet handling as crisply as it had in Melbourne. A precautionary gearbox change for Barrichello after the sessions means a five-place grid drop come Sunday.
McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 38.483s, P20/1m 36.397s, P9
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 36.669s, P7/1m 36.515s, P11
Most of McLaren’s day was taken up with the fallout of Hamilton’s disqualification from third place in last week’s Australian Grand Prix, and the subsequent suspension of sporting director Dave Ryan. Kovalainen undertook evaluation of new bodywork in the morning but lost time after flat-spotting a tyre. Hamilton likewise tried the new bodywork and reported that his car was better than he expected, but still lacked grip in the high-speed corners.
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