Friday free practice (2) – Australian Grand Prix.

I look forward to hearing everybody say how Fernando is doing poorly. Especially seeing as for the past 5 months all i have heard is Fernando is going to challenge for the title.

Yeh, he might. But only til its mathematically impossible by Hockenheim!

On a better note, Red Bull's looking good, Piquet slow, Button better than expected!

give it a rest

this whole lewis vs fernando obsessions with one fan slagging off the other is getting pathetic and boring.

Both world class drivers.

please all the hamilton loves dont jump on the bandwagon yet, he may have been fastest in this session but his time is still not as quick as the time raikkonen set in practice 1

well guys.enough of hamiltons,kimis,,alonsos,,buttons and all...did you all guys saw another surprise?.thats fiscichella in force india f1 team performing better than alonso and nelson..what say guys??? briatore may be regretting fisci's sacking?? or that the indian team is slowly becoming a big surprise this season? i have realy gone crazy about vijay mallya ...

yep!! the indian phenomenon is surely creating a bit of surprise this season...although vijay mallya has clearly said..there will be no miracles this season..and he wants the team to be a podium finisher by the time india hosts f1 race in 2010,,but i m sure this team is in good hands now,,and jordan days are slowly coming back..and we wont be seeing this team getting lapped this season for sure..nor this team will be a back marker.

If you look at the fastest laps from both sessions, there's not a whole lot between the top four. Lewis is tucked up behind Kimi and Heikki is just behind Massa. Red Bull put in some respectable times, especially as I heard Coulthard complaining on the team radio during practice!

I think so far, BMW are the guys that have lost out, but I can't seem to remember them being overly hot in practice last year.

It looked to me as the drivers were having more of a problem in the braking zones, opposed to the corner exits (traction control).

Will be interesting to see the race pace of the cars.

2008 will be Iceman show !!! ... and niceman too

The fastest lap ever recorded at Melbourne was that of Michael Schumacher in 2004 at 1m 24.125secs, last year Kimi recorded a fastest lap of 1m 25.235secs.
The times recorded in practise this morning are awry and off the pace to say the least.
Some teams are still tuning up and completing their race setup routines.

And how good was it to hear the cars coming off the corners without TC. Loved it! Sliding around, oversteer, now give'm full slicks. I can smell the glory days in the distant future!

That may be the case RENO SP but those 2004 F1 days are over with the hands tied rules that are now in force. All the teams are out there doing their best with in the new regulation so your comments are meaningless. Good to see Redbull mixing it with Maclaren and Ferrari in the top spots. The Ferraris are obviously at their limits considering Kimmi going off track and Massa spinning.

alonsloooow looks really fired up!
suddenly top poster RENO is very quiet abut his champion!
hehe

anyway its nice to see that webber is so fast and fisi!
kimi looks stronger than ever
and hamilton will be a serius challenger as he promised!

I think this is a result of no driver aids Reno.

@F1Tos

Hands tied? You would rather they had aids like TC???

FooAtari, I say let the mad proffesors loose and let the best team win. Every one is complaining about processional races and the ease of wich the cars are driven these days Ref: Prost recently. Tc would be ok with me but get rid of rev limiting and ten year freeze on engine development and stupid rules like that. If there is new technology to make these cars faster and or safer bring it on. but stop tieing the hands of these people or we will never see the 2004 track records broken or new F1 technogly in the cars we drive on the streets.

I agree there should be no rev limit. But I want to see the drivers do the driving, not the cars. Technology is all well and good until it effects the racing... As it stands the aerodynamics technology is so good it effects the racing. Cars are so dependent on their aero grip that they can't follow close enough. If that happens rule changes are needed...

Don't forget. Lewis' fastest lap was done on the softer compound. Was Kimi on the softer compound in FP1 during his stint?

Drivers will always have to drive in this league. The best drivers are the ones that have the ability to adapt to new technologies and are clever enough to ring every inch of speed and racing line from their machines. The mentality of fans like yourself Foo and Reno, etc is seriously old school. Do yo want the gear shift stick back between their legs and six inch rubber. The racing can be as good if not better these days if the powers at be give a little slack on the development and safety regs currently in place. The cars aero contruction and safety these days is so good(EG:Kubica 2007 Canada) yet the rules have them slower than the 2004 cars. Thats not progress thats F1 power politics.

Some really interesting things have come out of those sessions - and its great because the field looks mixed up and less of the 2x2x2x2 format they sometimes had last year.

Piquet's pace looks a tad concerning, Bourdais isn't up there, Button is doing alright, Fisichella is out of his skin, the Toyotas look better than I thought, RBR are the 3rd best team, BMW look a bit off... lots has been revealed. Of course there isn't much point reading too much into it just yet.

Fisi, DC and Webber are traditionally very good in Oz, and Toyota have a decent record there. I expect BMW to be more up there tomorrow too. Other than that, top 4 look pretty spot on. I'd say Kimi 1st, LH 2nd, HK/FM 3rd

What type of sport is this when most overtaking takes place when a competitor is stationary.

Patrick Head is right when he says F1 racing can be boring and needs a major rethink.

Will we be able to count race overtaking moves at the AGP on one or two hands?

Will the driver be any more relevant with the new rules?

Snoopy chuck in one of the Redbulls in that top four mix of yours. probably Webber at home as long as he doesn't break another car.

CA It's what I harped on previously about F1's supremos yeilding their power and politic's with the ridiculous rules and regs they currently have in place to control the races.The removal of TC is a start and will make the drivers a little more relevant this year than 07 but more has to be done to give the car makers more freedom and keep these drivers actually driving.The rules are too rigid creating predictablity and going to the old ways is not the answer to get better racing.EG:Moveable areo parts!Whats wrong with them?When you come up to pass a car and its spoiling your aerodynamics flick a button adjust an approptiate panel that unspoils the air flow and pass.Modern race driving