Formula One news

Zonta leads first practice

Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta set the pace in Friday's opening practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Brazilian clocked a best time of 1m34.092s from seventeen laps to finish 0.05s ahead of McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa.

It was typically hot, but not overwhelmingly humid at the Sepang circuit this morning. Air temperature soared at thirty-five degrees Centigrade and the track surface climbed throughout the hour to a sticky forty-eight degrees Centigrade. Humidity was relatively low at forty-eight per cent. 

Vitantionio Liuzzi was third fastest in the third Red Bull car putting in eighteen laps. Most of the race drivers completed just a handful of laos - the likes of Fisichella, Alonso and Trulli just putting in a couple of laps and not recording times, instead saving their cars and race-old engines for the second session. 

Michael Schumacher however had no such problem. Enjoying a fresh Ferrari V10 engine following his retirement in Australia, Schumacher was fourth quickest after thirteen laps - four more laps than Jenson Button also had a fresh engine in the back of his BAR Honda and finished fifth.

Nick Heidfeld put his BMW Williams in sixth place ahead of the two McLarens of Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya who completed six and five laps respectively. Felipe Massa and Mark Webber rounded off the top ten.

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