McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa proved to be the fastest man in Friday practices for the Australian Grand Prix, as the team’s third driver set a best time of 1:25.376 in the second session. The Spaniard was half a second faster than Red Bull’s Vitanonio Liuzzi was in the morning. De la Rosa was followed in the afternoon by teammate Kimi Raikkonen and the Williams of Nick Heidfeld in second and third respectively.
Raikkonen, who did not set a time in the first session, was quickly out for the installation laps and it was Jordan third driver Robert Doornbos first on the time sheet. De la Rosa quickly took over, 1:29.589, and Toyota No.3 Ricardo Zonta slotted into third. Ralf Schumacher put his Toyota second but was immediately eclipsed by Zonta again.
David Coulthard was next to the top, 1:28.867 for the Red Bull and the team’s third driver Liuzzi followed into second, with teammate Christian Klien in fifth. The pair of Jordan race drivers, Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan were eighth and ninth, while Ralf posted quickest with a 1:28.850. Raikkonen rounded off the top ten in the first ten minutes.
McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa proved to be the fastest man in Friday practices for the Australian Grand Prix, as the team’s third driver set a best time of 1:25.376 in the second session. The Spaniard was half a second faster than Red Bull’s Vitanonio Liuzzi was in the morning. De la Rosa was followed in the afternoon by teammate Kimi Raikkonen and the Williams of Nick Heidfeld in second and third respectively.
Raikkonen, who did not set a time in the first session, was quickly out for the installation laps and it was Jordan third driver Robert Doornbos first on the time sheet. De la Rosa quickly took over, 1:29.589, and Toyota No.3 Ricardo Zonta slotted into third. Ralf Schumacher put his Toyota second but was immediately eclipsed by Zonta again.
David Coulthard was next to the top, 1:28.867 for the Red Bull and the team’s third driver Liuzzi followed into second, with teammate Christian Klien in fifth. The pair of Jordan race drivers, Tiago Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan were eighth and ninth, while Ralf posted quickest with a 1:28.850. Raikkonen rounded off the top ten in the first ten minutes.
Sauber had mixed fortunes; Massa was notably on the pace of the top six but Villeneuve was up and down the times rather raggedly. Toyota was also a bit sporadic and the Jordans, unsurprisingly, were the backmarkers. So far it looks to be developing into an interesting weekend in Melbourne. Final top eight classification: De la Rosa, Raikkonen, Heidfeld, M. Schumacher, Montoya, Massa, Alonso, Button.

Courtsey : Motorsport.com