Wurz fastest in practice 1 - Malaysia
Austrian Alex Wurz won the battle of the test drivers by topping the times in the first practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Friday
In what may pass for cool conditions at Sepang - with the trackside temperature a modest 36 degrees Celsius (96.80F) - many top drivers preferred to sit out most if not all of the session to preserve their engines, which will be running for a second race on Sunday.
Portuguese Tiago Monteiro had the worst possible start to his weekend when his Midland ground to a halt on the trackside grass 40 minutes into the session.
Wurz drove his Williams around the 5.5km circuit in 1:34.946, 0.787 seconds faster than BMW's Robert Kubica and more than a second faster than Honda's Anthony Davidson.
Wurz's pace will be another boost for Williams after their surprise success at having both race drivers score points in the season-opening race in Bahrain last week.
None of Friday's top trio will race on Sunday and of those who will be on the grid, McLaren's Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya was quickest with a lap of 1:36.709 for fourth place on the time charts.
Among the four cars starting with new engines this weekend will be Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who will lost ten grid places as a result.
The Brazilian put in the most laps (18) of the top race drivers and managed the seventh fastest time, while his team mate Michael Schumacher recorded the sixth fastest time on one of his four laps.
World champion Fernando Alonso and his Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella remained in the garage for the first of Friday's two practice sessions.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Wurz Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:34.946 19 2. Kubica BMW-Sauber (M) 1:35.733 + 0.787 22 3. Davidson Honda (M) 1:35.997 + 1.051 25 4. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:36.709 + 1.763 4 5. Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:37.042 + 2.096 7 6. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:37.043 + 2.097 4 7. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:37.557 + 2.611 18 8. Doornbos Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:37.604 + 2.658 18 9. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:37.826 + 2.880 9 10. Klien Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:38.448 + 3.502 5 11. Jani Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:38.668 + 3.722 21 12. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:38.837 + 3.891 8 13. Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:39.599 + 4.653 14 14. Monteiro MF1-Toyota (B) 1:39.899 + 4.953 8 15. Mondini MF1-Toyota (B) 1:40.092 + 5.146 22 16. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:40.123 + 5.177 8 17. Albers MF1-Toyota (B) 1:40.608 + 5.662 12 18. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:41.072 + 6.126 18 19. Ide Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:43.449 + 8.503 19 20. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) No Time 1 21. Alonso Renault (M) No Time 2 22. Fisichella Renault (M) No Time 2 23. Villeneuve BMW-Sauber (M) No Time 1 24. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (M) No Time 1 25. Webber Williams-Cosworth (B) No Time 26. Rosberg Williams-Cosworth (B) No Time 27. Barrichello Honda (M) No Time 28. Button Honda (M) No Time All timing unofficial
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