Fisichella Aiming for Top Ten in Qualifying

Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella was pleased with his day's work in Friday's practice for the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the season.

The Italian, in his first race for the Swiss squad after leaving Jordan, posted the 11th quickest time of the session. Fisichella was the busiest of the racing drivers today, completing a total of 27 laps in his Petronas-powered C23 car.

Despite a good session, however, the Sauber driver reckons it will be hard to qualify in the top ten tomorrow.

"It was quite a good day, and I did my best laps during a long run," said the Italian. "The balance was getting better with each lap, and we know which direction to take to improve the car further for tomorrow. We also have a clear tyre choice. It's going to be difficult to get into the top 10, but we'll do our best."

Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa had a difficult start to his racing return when he failed to complete a single lap in the opening session due to a mechanical problem. He enjoyed a better second hour and posted the 13th fastest time after 25 laps.

"This morning I lost all my track time when my car stopped early on with a fuel pressure problem, but this afternoon I did a long run and the balance was getting better and better as the track improved, and the Bridgestone tyres felt consistent," said Massa.

"The car was very good, and I could easily have gone half a second faster, but towards the end I got traffic on each lap. I'm happy with what I achieved, though, especially given what happened this morning."