Ferrari off to a flyer again

A new week, a new Grand Prix but it was the same old story in Malaysia today as Ferrari dominated the first free practice session in the stifling heat at Sepang.

Although it is impossible to draw firm conclusions from practice, given the preparations that are being done for tomorrow’s qualifying and Sunday’s race, the statistics are inarguable.

Michael Schumacher bettered both the qualifying and race lap record here with a screaming run of one minute 34.437 seconds.

The six-times world champion was nine tenths of a second faster than teammate Rubens Barrichello and 1.8 seconds up on his nearest race rival, Ralf Schumacher in the Williams.

BAR’s Anthony Davidson, whose job as the official test driver is to put in the miles to help the team make a tyre choice while Jenson Button and Takuma Sato work on fine-tuning their race cars, was third fastest in 1min 35.970secs.

Davidson’s equivalent at Toyota, Ricardo Zonta, was next, two tenths further back.

While the times must, at this stage, be taken with a pinch of salt, the signs are ominous for the rest of the field.

Ferrari began quickest at the first free practice session in Melbourne a fortnight ago and did not relinquish their grip over the field all week.

The Formula One fraternity were left “shocked” and “alarmed” as Schumacher and Barrichello claimed a processional one-two for Ferrari on the Sunday.

Hopes have been high amongst Ferrari’s chief rivals, all of whom use Michelin, that the soaring temperatures at Sepang would not suit the Bridgestone tyres.

If Michelin cannot deliver in Malaysia, where track temperatures last year touched 53 degrees, it is feared Ferrari will dominate the entire season, as they did in 2002 when either Schumacher or Barrichello won 15 of the 17 races.

Schumacher completed 11 laps in his first practice session, almost half of the number driven by the third driver in teams permitted to run test cars in practice, but up on his Melbourne showing.

The new one-engine rule means teams are wary of over-working their race engine in early practice, but the unique conditions in Malaysia, which cannot be simulated during winter testing, heighten the need for last-minute testing.

“It is not practical to test in Malaysia and we have to develop tyres for these conditions while running at European circuits during the winter,” said Michelin’s programme manager Pascal Vasselon.

“Our previous experience and record at Sepang make things a little easier and we are getting better all the time.”

Spain’s Fernando Alonso secured pole position here last year in the Renault before McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen won the race – both running on Michelin tyres.