Webber leads the way in Friday Practice at Sepang

Mark Webber has dominated Friday practice in Malaysia, setting times significantly faster than his closest rivals the morning session before pipping Jenson Button in the afternoon.

Webber paced the first 90-minute run, setting a series of fast laps to eventually sit more than a second and a half quicker than his nearest competitor. Second place Lewis Hamilton was in fact a whopping 1.665 seconds shy of the pace setting Red Bull, a worrying prospect for the Anglo-Austrian team’s rivals ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying session.

The Aussie then made it a Friday double by once again leading a McLaren – this time Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button – in FP2. His advantage here was far slimmer, with Button 0.005 down on Webber, but still represented a strong showing for the reigning world champions. Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel meanwhile had a quiet day, not setting a representative lap in FP1 before taking fourth in the second session. However Vettel will undoubtedly be Webber’s main – and quite possibly only – rival for pole position tomorrow.

Three-time Malaysian Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher enjoyed a promising day pace-wise, finishing the first session third fastest before ending FP2 fifth. His old employers at Ferrari had less to cheer about, with neither car showing particularly stellar speed in either session.

Renault meanwhile suffered a nightmare opening session, with both Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov sidelined after running only a handful of laps. Having just set the fastest time in FP1 Heidfeld appeared to lockup in to turn one. However it soon became clear that the German’s problem was more serious than a simple snatched brake as he continued around the corner with a static wheel. Heidfeld’s session was over with just six laps complete.

And things were to get worse for the Enstone-based team, with Vitaly Petrov ‘s front-left wheel appearing to fail under braking for turn nine, the Russian having done just four tours of the circuit.  It would soon transpire that the problems were related, both cars having suffered problems with their suspension uprights, throwing their participation in FP2 in to doubt. However after extensive work from the team both cars made it out for the second session, Petrov emerging from the pits on the 40 minute mark with Heidfeld rolling out after an hour’s running.

Having impressed in FP1 and the early running of the second session Pastor Maldonado suffered an embarrassing moment midway through FP2. The Venezuelan put a wheel on the grass as he entered the pitlane, snapping the car from his control and in to the outer wall; the looks on the faces of the Williams crew said it all.

In the battle at the back Virgin enjoyed some cheer following a miserable Australian Grand Prix, with Timo Glock outpacing both Lotus cars. However the team’s happiness will be tempered by problems for Jerome d’Ambrosio, who suffered a suspension failure in FP1 that would force him to sit out the entirety of the second session.

Elsewhere three non-race drivers contested FP1: Nico Hulkenberg was an impressive fourth for Force India, Daniel Ricciardo took 12th fastest for Toro Rosso, narrowly outpacing team-mate Jaime Alguersuari, whilst GP2 veteran Davide Valsecchi made his maiden appearance at a grand prix weekend with the 21st fastest time for Lotus.

The Red Bull show – sorry – qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, takes place tomorrow at the Speang circuit.

Combined Session Times