Mixed Fortunes for Minardi Drivers

Briton Anthony Davidson continued with his promising showing in Formula One by outpacing Minardi teammate Mark Webber by more than a second in today's free practice for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The young rookie, who made his debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix two weeks ago, posted the 18th fastest time of today's session ahead of Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and his own teammate Webber, whose running was cut short due to a gearbox problem in the afternoon.

"It has been a good session for me today, without any dramas," said Davidson. "We worked on the car and made some good changes. I think I found the best tyre situation for us as well. At the moment, I think it's looking alright for tomorrow."

Australian Webber endured a troubled day that saw him finishing at the bottom of the timesheets after only 13 laps.

"It has really been a tough Friday for us, as we had a problem in the first session with the front of the car, which we solved, and then, in the second session, we had gearbox difficulties," said Webber.

"I'm now looking forward to tomorrow in order to do some proper tyre runs and to complete our pre-qualifying technical programme."