Davidson excels in Sepang heat
Honda test driver Anthony Davidson was the quickest Michelin runner on the opening day of the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Englishman posted a 1m 35.041s lap in the second free practice session, which took place in hot, muggy conditions similar to those that are likely to prevail during Sunday's 56-lap race. Robert Kubica was third on aggregate while world championship leader Fernando Alonso was fourth overall and quickest of the regular race drivers, a fraction ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Giancarlo Fisichella.
Honda/Michelin test driver Anthony Davidson and MF1 racer Christijan Albers were both fined for speeding in the pit lane this morning.
Davidson missed a large part of the day's second free practice session after spinning off the circuit at Turn 14.
David Coulthard (Red Bull/Michelin) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) will be docked 10 places on Sunday's grid after making unscheduled engine changes. Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault/Michelin) and Jacques Villeneuve (BMW Sauber/Michelin) also have fresh V10s this weekend. As they failed to finish the previous race in Bahrain,
however, the regulations absolve them of any penalty
Giorgio Mondini conducted testing duties for the MF1 team today. The Swiss driver is one of several youngsters MF1 intends to evaluate during grand prix weekends.
Red Bull/Michelin driver Vitantonio Liuzzi spun into the pit lane entrance during today's second free practice session, but didn't make contact with the barriers.
Nick Shorrock, Michelin Formula One director "Conditions were cooler than we anticipated during the first free practice session, which caused softer compounds to grain a little, but that problem went away this afternoon when the heat returned to its customary ferocity.
"As we saw in Bahrain, the level of competition promises to be extremely high this season and today's closely-matched times reflect as much. Our partners have completed a number of useful long runs, however, and that has given us an excellent platform for the balance of the weekend. We have brought seven different types of tyre to Sepang and, on the basis of what we have seen so far, I expect a number of them to be used in Sunday's race."
