F1 Rookies Impress in Melbourne Practice

Formula One's rookie drivers all made big impressions in Friday's first free practice session for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

While the locals were keenly following the progress of Australia's newest Grand Prix driver Mark Webber, Brazilian Felipe Massa, Japan's Takuma Sato and Briton Allan McNish also experienced their first taste of Formula One.

"It was a real baptism of fire," said 25-year-old Webber, who was third slowest of the 22 drivers. "It was still very special for me, obviously, to leave the pitlane here in Australia. A lot of people helped me along the way so there was a few people very happy to see me leave the garage today."

While Webber's Minardi was off the pace, Massa enjoyed a dream start in his Sauber, posting the eighth fastest time overall to emerge as the pick of the new crop of rookie drivers. The 20-year-old is the youngest driver in Formula One this season but belied his youth and inexperience with an impressive display around the Albert Park circuit.

"I think that's a pretty good start for me. The car was really nice today and I was able to learn the track very quickly," Massa said. "Everything went well and I'm really happy. My aim is to qualify in the top 10 so this is a good foundation for me."

With the likes of former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve and last year's Championship runner-up David Coulthard in his rear-view mirror, Massa won high praise from his new boss for his first-day heroics.

Great Job

"Felipe did a great job for his first real day as a Formula One driver because it's not easy for a 20-year-old," Peter Sauber said.

Sato, 25, also caught the eye, clocking the 13th best time in his Jordan, despite having problems with the steering column.

"I must say I am pretty happy with today, it was very exciting and, overall, I'm very pleased with how it went," he said.

Jordan engineer Gary Anderson said Sato had already shown he had the makings of a good driver.

"Takuma did a very solid job on his first day of running," Anderson said. "He seems very focused and not phased by things."

At 32, Allan McNish was by far the oldest of the four rookies but the Briton showed the benefit of his experience at other levels of racing to set the 16th best time in his Toyota, who are also making their Grand prix debut. Despite being the elder statesmen of the four new kids on the block, McNish said he was just as nervous as his younger rivals and was glad to get the car safely around the circuit.

"When I was driving down the pitlane, the first thing I was thinking about was making sure we didn't do anything silly on the installation lap," McNish said. "Everybody just had to get those few nerves out of the way but it was an emotional moment insofar as it was clarification finally: that's it, we're here, on the right side of the fence and not on the other side."