Quiet morning

Just like in Bahrain a week ago, teams have limited their mileage during the first session. It’s something we’ll have to get used to this year: the first practice session now belongs to third drivers. Race drivers stay in their garage and may, sometimes, just make a couple of installation laps waiting for the track conditions to get better.

There are three reasons for that. First, the teams don’t have to choose their tyres at the end of the first day. Second, the asphalt is dirty on Friday. Finally, the 2 race engine regulation forces the teams to pay a lot of attention to their mileage.

During the first hour of practice in Sepang, this morning, the Renault F1 Team drivers only made an installation lap, whereas the Honda and Williams race drivers didn’t take the wheel at all, relying on their respective test driver. On the timesheets, Alex Wurz (Williams), Robert Kubica (Williams) and Anthony Davidson (Honda) make it to the top three.

The first race driver is Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren) : the Colombian finishes 4th with 4 laps only. He’s a full second behind the best performance. Montoya is followed by David Coulthard (Red Bull) and Michael Schumacher (Ferrari). Felipe Massa, whose engine has been changed after the Bahreïn race, has been able to make 18 laps and finishes 7th.

http://www.f1technical.net/news/2174