A cool day in the park

The fact that the Australian Grand Prix has been moved along the calendar from its usual early March slot made itself felt today. It was a much colder day in Albert Park than had been anticipated and getting the tyres up to the right operating temperature was a primary concern for everyone, irrespective of what brand of tyre they were running on.

As is often the case on Friday, the top of the time sheet was dominated by the Friday only drivers, free of the burden of worrying about engine reliability or having to conserve tyres for qualifying and the race. Anthony Davidson was quickest around the street circuit for Honda, with Alexander Wurz second for Williams-Cosworth. Third was Robert Kubika in the BMW-Sauber.

Jenson Button was fourth for Honda, ahead of world champion Fernando Alonso in the Renault. Michael Schumacher was the best placed of the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers in sixth spot, with his team-mate Felipe Massa tenth. Apart from warming the tyres, wind was an issue according to Michael, who found himself being pushed along from behind just when he wanted to brake for a corner. But no damage was done. As for Felipe, the Brazilian was happy to have made constant progress throughout the day and was dismissive of his lap time, as he had to slow several times for yellow flags waved to cover the indiscretion of others. The Albert Park track, used as a normal road for the rest of the year is always therefore very slippery on the first day of practice and several drivers were caught out and ended up spinning off the circuit.