Toyota buoyed by early performance

Although Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta were only eighth and 11th fastest in the final classification, both drivers showed evidence of real pace but lost time in one particular portion of the lap.

Panis, for example, would have ended up third quickest if he had recorded the same first sector time as his team mate, while Da Matta was actually only 0.2s down on fastest man Rubens Barrichello after the first two sectors of the lap.

The Frenchman explained: "I found more understeer than I expected through the tight first part of the lap and I couldn't get the car turned-in as I wanted, but the rest of the lap was okay and I think we can all be encouraged by the potential. Cristiano also did a very good job."

Da Matta, who went into the session with just 24 laps of Albert Park under his belt, said: "Obviously, not being so familiar with the track meant that it was important for me to try and keep everything together, so I'm happy with it. But on the other hand, I'm a racing driver and we are never satisfied. What is better than the result for me, is to see the potential of the car and the team."