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The 2nd Friday Practice Session for Round 1 of the 2005 F1 season at Melbourne.
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00:25On a balmy late summer afternoon in the Southern Hemisphere,
00:29welcome to the 56th season of the Formula One World Driving Championship,
00:33and we're proud to bring it to you live here on Speed Channel.
00:37I'm Bob Barsha, joined once again this year by David Hobbs and Steve Matchett.
00:41Peter Windsor will be checking in on race day.
00:43Cars are now on track for the second of two one-hour sessions on this Friday
00:49of the opening weekend of the 2005 Formula One season.
00:52And David Hobbs, I can't recall a season of recent memory
00:55in which we've had as much uncertainty as we had coming into Melbourne.
00:58Now, when you look at the list of runners, it's pretty incredible.
01:01We've got four completely new rookies.
01:03We've got a wholesale team swapping around.
01:05Of course, we've got all the new regulations regarding tires and engines, longevity of both.
01:10So there's going to be a lot of unanswered questions going into the season.
01:13And Steve, there's one of the great stories of the weekend thus far.
01:16The Minardi team did not turn a lap in the opening one-hour session.
01:19It remains to be seen if they will lap at all in this session
01:23because they are running updated versions of last year's car.
01:26Technically, they are not, according to the 2005 specification.
01:31And the question is, how many teams have signed off on their ability to run?
01:36Apparently, eight.
01:37The exceptions being Ferrari and Red Bull.
01:41Yes, a very unfortunate situation there for Minardi.
01:44Of course, they can't run the old cars, really, to the technical regulations.
01:47They are absolutely way beyond legal to the rules for 2005.
01:53They have asked for a special exemption to the rules for this one race
01:57until they can get their 2005 car ready.
01:59But can you believe that Ferrari, the world champions,
02:03the most dominant team in Formula One for years,
02:06has picked on the little Mino team, Minardi, and said,
02:09you ain't racing.
02:11There you're looking at Kimi Raikkonen.
02:13And as a result, partly as a result of the new rules,
02:16that is not a Viking helmet he's wearing.
02:18That's a new aerodynamic device on the McLaren.
02:20Partly as a result of the rules,
02:22this is the first lap that Kimi Raikkonen has turned today
02:24because they've got these tires.
02:26They've got to last a long time.
02:27And so does that engine.
02:28It's got to last all this weekend.
02:29And all weekend in Malaysia in two weeks' time.
02:32Raikkonen, one of four front-line drivers
02:34who did not turn a timed lap in the first session.
02:37The others were the Renault duo of Giancarlo Fisichella
02:39and Fernando Alonso,
02:40and the seven-time and reigning world champion,
02:43Michael Schumacher.
02:45Kimi Raikkonen has had a pretty stout winter.
02:47They've had some pretty good testing with the McLaren.
02:50New engine, obviously a completely new car,
02:52and obviously all the new rules and regulations.
02:55Tremendous amount of tire testing
02:56been going on in the last four months.
02:58He's had a fairly scandalous one, too,
03:00on two separate occasions.
03:01He was caught in the international media eye
03:03in a drunken stupor,
03:05once in the Canary Islands
03:07and once in London, I believe.
03:09In the nightclub in London, exactly.
03:11The bottle of champagne in one hand
03:13and something else in the other.
03:17Well, you know what they say,
03:18get right to the scandal.
03:20Three minutes into the F1 season,
03:22we haven't even talked about
03:22the wing and tire regulations.
03:24We've already got Kimi Raikkonen
03:25in the strip joint out.
03:29We're talking about these tires now
03:31in this session.
03:31As he slowed right up.
03:34I think to try and give himself
03:35a little bit of track space.
03:37Because they're trying to keep their laps down.
03:39He wants to do...
03:39He's had an exploration lap,
03:41now he wants to try and crack one off.
03:43And while he continues on his way,
03:45as I mentioned,
03:45this is the second one-hour Friday practice.
03:48That part of the schedule has not changed.
03:50While we have a moment,
03:51let's take a look at the earlier highlights.
03:52There's Mark Webber, the local favorite.
03:54In fact, there are lots of familiar faces
03:56in some unfamiliar places.
03:57It's here, of course,
03:59Michael Schumacher with the Ferrari team.
04:01As I mentioned,
04:02Schumacher turned no time lapse.
04:04His teammate Ruben Guaracchelo
04:05got eight in the first session.
04:06This is Antonio Luizzi,
04:08last year's former 3000 champion,
04:10making his debut with the Red Bull car.
04:12Quickest in the session.
04:13Right behind him, Pedro De La Rosa,
04:15the third driver for McLaren,
04:16the driver on their Friday driver.
04:20And McLaren and his hometown boy
04:22for this race, Mark Webber.
04:24Mate, the FW 27.
04:29Not a very good start for Narayan Karthikeyan
04:32in the Jordan.
04:34This is the Toyota engine.
04:36Burst into flames on the right bank.
04:38Mechanic straight in with the X-Image
04:40to put it out.
04:41There is the engineers stand
04:43for the Minardi team.
04:44They did not run at all
04:45in that first session
04:46down with the garage doors.
04:47The curious thing is
04:48that they do have the wings
04:50and floors and diffusers
04:52to put the car
04:52into 2005 specification.
04:55I'm a little bit mystified
04:56why they simply did not do that
04:58in the first place,
04:59knowing that Ferrari,
05:01amongst others,
05:02were about to veto their
05:04right to take part
05:06in that first session.
05:08At least there was a very good chance
05:10that Paul Starler
05:10would have been aware of that.
05:12Yeah, and of course,
05:13you know,
05:13you just know in Formula 1
05:14that somebody's going to stick
05:15their oar in there.
05:18Yeah, so there's Reikland.
05:21Two seconds slower
05:22than the Uti was this morning.
05:24I might point out,
05:25between sessions,
05:26the team owner
05:27and native Australian
05:28Paul Stoddart
05:29walked out on the deck
05:30just behind
05:31the winner's podium
05:32and waved a bottle
05:34of champagne in the air.
05:35Got a huge roar
05:36from the crowd.
05:38I suppose there's two ways
05:39of looking at this, guys.
05:40I don't know,
05:41you know,
05:41yes,
05:42I agree with the team's decision
05:44in a way
05:45that why should Paul Stoddart
05:47race
05:47or practice
05:48the 2004 car
05:50when everybody else
05:51has had to make the decision
05:52to produce 2005 specification cars
05:54and that Minardi,
05:56of course,
05:56have got the components here
05:57to make the car legit.
05:59But, of course,
06:00on the other hand,
06:01Ferrari,
06:01the hugely dominant team,
06:03in no way
06:04can see Minardi
06:05as a threat,
06:06it would be impossible.
06:07I must say,
06:08it's very mean-spirited.
06:10I guess that's a case
06:11of rules are rules
06:12and we're not here
06:14to make them,
06:15we're just upholding them.
06:16But, as you say,
06:17a little bit snidey, really.
06:19It makes me think back
06:20to the end of last year
06:21when Paul Stoddart
06:23was getting the teams together
06:25to try and get
06:25a testing ban organised
06:26and the one team
06:27that weren't invited,
06:28apparently, of course,
06:29were Ferrari
06:29and Jean-Todd
06:30was excluded from that meeting
06:32by virtue of the fact
06:33that apparently
06:33he didn't know
06:34it was taking place.
06:35Is this payback for that?
06:36It wouldn't have shown up anyway.
06:38Oh, we've got a spin there.
06:39Is that Dornbosch,
06:40the Jordan Toyota driver?
06:43The young Dutchman?
06:45I believe it is.
06:46Kimi Raikkonen comes in
06:47after being well ahead
06:48of the pace you saw
06:49most of the way
06:50around that lap.
06:50Right now,
06:51David Coulthard,
06:52who, after ten years
06:54at McLaren,
06:54is now the number one man
06:56with the Red Bull,
06:57the former Jaguar team,
06:58currently leads the session
07:00at 128.867.
07:01And this was moments ago
07:03before the session began
07:04as Paul Stoddart
07:05went out to greet
07:06his fellow Australians,
07:08even though his team
07:09has not turned a lap
07:10to this point
07:11and, as far as we know,
07:12will not.
07:15Kimi Raikkonen,
07:16as you said,
07:17pulled in on that lap
07:18when he was well ahead
07:18of the rest of the field,
07:19up by quite a substantial time,
07:21but obviously
07:22saving everything,
07:23tyres and engine.
07:25There we see Dornbosch
07:26going around
07:26at that last corner,
07:27number one.
07:28And his first visit
07:30to the Albert Parts Circuit
07:31in Melbourne.
07:33There were the Renaults.
07:34Looks like we might see
07:35them again very shortly.
07:37So we'll take a quick break
07:39and return
07:39with more live coverage
07:40of second Friday practice
07:42from Melbourne.
07:45Speed Channel's coverage
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08:28Back live in Melbourne, Australia.
08:30Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, and Steve Matchett with you.
08:33Fernando Alonso in the Renault.
08:36Working a second hot lap.
08:41Quickest through the first split.
08:43Currently quickest is Christian Kliem in the Red Bull.
08:45Young Austrian in his sophomore Formula 1 season.
08:50This is a beautiful looking car.
08:51Fizzy Keller went to the top.
08:52Look at this car, guys, when you get a good look at it.
08:54He's so swirly, the wing.
08:56Oh, dear.
08:57And that's Luzzi, last year's Formula 3000 champion.
09:01Fast man in the first session.
09:03Wow, now they're counting on him to put in a lot of miles on that car today.
09:06Absolutely.
09:07To really check out the tire wear.
09:09That's just what they didn't want to happen.
09:10You can see the wear on those tires.
09:12Look at the left front there.
09:14And guys, you're absolutely right.
09:15Luzzi was out there trying to bang out pretty much a full race distance.
09:18Because the rules require that the teams are only allowed to use one set of tires throughout the entire race
09:25distance,
09:27the guys that can run the car, the third car today, have got a big advantage.
09:32Because you need to basically put a full race distance on the tires before you can get a good idea,
09:36if or not, you can get away with the softer compounds.
09:39Before, under last year's regulations, of course, the teams would be changing tires every 15, 20 laps at the most.
09:44You only needed to do 15 laps to have a look at the wear on the tires to get a
09:48good idea of what compound and construction you were going to use.
09:51Now, of course, you need to be banging out something like 58 laps.
09:54Yeah.
09:54To get a good idea.
09:55That is a huge mistake by the young Italian.
09:59It was the fast man of the first session and turned the most laps in the first session, 19 laps.
10:04As you saw a moment ago, Fernando Alonso has moved to the top of the speed charts.
10:08He is the only man in the one-minute, 27-second zone.
10:11Let's take a moment and look at our Porsche track map, David.
10:15And looking at the map there, you can see why Luzzi went off.
10:18This is a very technical track and an incredible amount of corners jammed into just under 3.3 miles.
10:24A lot of variation, that first chicane, that right-left at the end of the pit straight there.
10:28You get there at about 185 miles an hour.
10:30Then as you go to the lake in the middle there, as you weave your way around the lake,
10:33the Clark chicane is an important corner.
10:35It leads you to that long, long left-hander through weight, which is a quick right-hand sweep,
10:39and through hill, obviously, which you can see is a quick right-hander as well.
10:42Very technical course, and it's the fastest street course, probably around 140 miles an hour average last year for pole
10:49position.
10:49So it's quick.
10:51Again, not a lot of opportunities for overtaking, but still there are some there.
10:56I guess Porsche has to sponsor our track map, because I said so, didn't you?
11:00You did.
11:01All right.
11:02Here's the world champion.
11:05We've got no complete laps in in the first session.
11:08And, of course, Ferrari running at a big disadvantage this year in terms of tires.
11:12They're the only team, really, on Bridgestone.
11:15We've got Jordan on Bridgestone and Minardi, but they have to do—Ferrari have done all the testing.
11:20And compared to Michelin, who have got every other top-running team who've done in a tremendous amount of data
11:25collection all through the winter,
11:27Ferrari have really had to do it all themselves.
11:29It's going to be interesting to see just how well those Bridgestones stack up against the Michelins this year.
11:34Well, it is a very interesting story, really, with the Bridgestone tires.
11:38You're right, David.
11:39Absolutely what you say, that Michelin have put in something like 100,000 kilometers of testing in comparison to 20
11:45,000 for Bridgestone.
11:46However, although Michelin—all the Michelin runners have been quicker than Ferrari in the winter testing.
11:52You're going to take testing for what it is, because you never know what specification cars are running.
11:56You never knew what specification engines were running, if it was a one-race engine or a two-race engine.
12:01As we watch the Toyota, let's just have a look at what Trulli's doing here on this little replay.
12:06Ah, you know, just drive the car some.
12:09But getting back to the Bridgestone tire situation, Bridgestone were just very calmly working on durability of their tires.
12:18They weren't looking for outright pace right up until the last week of testing at Valencia in the south of
12:24Spain,
12:25when Bridgestone released the final race compounds onto the carcass, the canvas of the tire that they were working so
12:31hard out of November, December, January.
12:34So it really was right until the last second we knew what tires Bridgestone were going to produce.
12:38Let's look at the weather conditions for the second of two Friday practices.
12:45Did you mention the numbers? Bridgestone testing, roughly 12,500 miles of preseason testing.
12:51The Michelin teams racked up 62,000 miles of tire testing.
12:55And Montoya in his new blue.
12:58Michael going a bit wide there, putting some dust on the track for the next driver.
13:01Montoya now assumes ahead of the time sheets at a 127.7.
13:06I must say, these times are surprising me.
13:08Liucci this morning did a 25 and change.
13:10Last year's poll was a 124.4 from Michael Schumacher.
13:18And I thought that'd be a lot slower than that with all these harder tires,
13:21a lot less downforce than the aerodynamic changes they've had to make.
13:25As you see, Juan Pablo Montoya in the McLaren Mercedes has moved to the top of the charts at 127
13:30.752.
13:33Oh, is that the self-same?
13:36No, it's De La Rosa.
13:37Oh, don't get stuck, David.
13:40Now, De La Rosa has just completed a half race distance on these tires.
13:45And again, it's absolutely crucial for McLaren that they needed De La Rosa to complete that race distance
13:52to get an idea of the wear at the end of the session, to see which compound they can choose.
13:56That's a big knock for them.
13:57Well, luckily for him, he managed to keep the car rolling through the gravel and didn't get it better down.
14:01So he got through there.
14:03But he wouldn't have done those tires much good.
14:05No, not at all.
14:06Just to try and get an idea of what the teams are doing.
14:09Now, the teams have to remain with one set of tires for both qualifying sessions and the race.
14:15However, today the FIA will issue each car, each car a set of hard compound and soft compound.
14:22And they must make the decision of which compound they're going to run before 8.30 tomorrow morning.
14:27So effectively, by the end of today, the teams have to make that decision.
14:31There is Mark Webber.
14:32You saw the brain trust at Williams.
14:34Patrick Head and Mario Tyson from BMW.
14:37We'll talk a little bit more about them when we return to Melbourne.
14:45Welcome back live to the second Friday practice on the opening round of the 2005 Formula One season.
14:51Watching Rubens Botticello, who, while we were away, jumped up to fourth on the current leaderboard.
14:57Whoa.
14:59Massive and inadequate adjustment there.
15:01He was cranking out a good lap then, too.
15:06But, of course, they're going to run off the road if they get an opportunity here and they're breaking for
15:10a corner.
15:11If they can see a bit of runoff area without actually going to the gravel, they'll try and take it
15:15rather than flat spot the tire.
15:18Because they might, whatever tire they choose today of the compound, they might have to use those further on the
15:25weekend.
15:26Yeah, tomorrow, after they make the decision, they'll have to hand one set of tires back to the FIA.
15:31Okay, let's have a look at Barrichello.
15:35Remember, this is last year's car modified.
15:37That's probably another reason why they're so grumpy about Minardi.
15:40They're thinking, well, we're using last year's car and modified and got it out to the circuit.
15:43And I know the resources and the money are hugely different, nevertheless.
15:47Just by a factor of about ten.
15:49But it can be done.
15:50That's, I think, that's the thing.
15:51It can be done.
15:52And again, Minardi have got the components at the track.
15:54I still think it's very unsportsmanlike.
15:59Now, our hearts went out to Rubens Barrichello just after the end of last season.
16:02Recall his wife, Silvana, walking up to Rubens and consoling him when he dropped out of his home Grand Prix
16:07to end the season.
16:09Shortly thereafter, his wife suffered a miscarriage.
16:12She was three months pregnant at the time.
16:15It was all very sad.
16:22So, tomorrow, after the FIA have received back one of these compounds of tyres, either the hard and soft,
16:29the FIA will issue the car two other sets of tyres of the same compound that they made the choice.
16:34So, the car, each car will then have three sets of tyres.
16:37One used for the set that they're running today.
16:39And two brand new sets.
16:41That's one set they will try and keep, probably just put a couple of laps on to scrub them in
16:45and check for balance and grip.
16:46And that set they'll want to use for both qualifying sessions in the race.
16:50That leaves them just one other set to practice on on Saturday.
16:54And use, of course, as emergency spares if they need to during the race.
16:59A little bit of bodywork or something broke off the car ahead there.
17:01The times continue to come down.
17:03David Coulthard ran a 127.528.
17:06And he has since been supplanted by Pedro De La Rosa.
17:11On board with David Coulthard.
17:13Good day.
17:23Good day.
17:26Good day.
17:28Good-bye.
17:28Good-bye.
17:55Coulthard, incidentally, the only other driver in this field
17:58to have won a race, the Australia Grand Prix, other than Michael Schumacher.
18:03His cousin, a 22-year-old New Zealander named Fabian Coulthard,
18:07is driving in one of the support races, the Michelin Carrera Cup.
18:12So we watch David a little off and on.
18:16David, you were talking earlier on about
18:18we're going to see the car sliding around a lot more
18:20because of the lack of downforce
18:22and the regulation changes have taken downforce off the car.
18:25He's headed Hilly, and again, I promised before the break
18:28that we'd talk a little bit more about the Williams situation.
18:30A lot of furrowed brows there.
18:33On the right, Christian Horner, the youngest team manager in Formula One
18:35with Red Bull, 31 years of age.
18:38He's on the left there, who's just walked in from his little off-course excursion.
18:44I'm sorry, I said Hilly, and it's Mario Thiessen with the BMW program.
18:49There's a problem with the Williams aero setup,
18:53and they've traced it to their wind tunnel,
18:55where apparently they have had a very, very difficult problem
18:58with the calibration of their wind tunnel.
19:00And folks at Williams are very concerned about the FW27.
19:05Now they're running, what, 45 days behind in their program,
19:09on their scheduled program,
19:10and of course 45 days going into the season is a disaster
19:13because there's a lot of races this season.
19:15It's going to be very difficult to play catch-up.
19:19Swooping through that beautiful Albert Park.
19:20That's a great shot, isn't it?
19:22Well, it's a gorgeous setting.
19:25The track runs around a lake,
19:27and of course the whole thing sits right on the edge of the huge bay
19:31on which Melbourne sits.
19:36To look at the cars and to see what the teams have had to do
19:39to comply with the new regulations,
19:41have a look at the front wing when we get a shot of that,
19:43and you'll see that it sits much higher.
19:45The end plates are now 50 mil,
19:46about four inches higher than they were last year.
19:50Really, for efficiency,
19:52you want the wing to run as close to the track as possible
19:55to try and speed the airflow up underneath the main plane.
19:57If you lift it up, if you raise it up,
19:59you'll lose efficiency on the front wing.
20:01You see those two little red winglets on the front of the Toyota there,
20:05clear sign that the people are struggling for front downforce.
20:08When we get a shot of the rear of the car,
20:10you'll see that the rear wing has actually moved forward.
20:14It's now right over the actual centre line of the car.
20:18That has removed some of the leverage away from the wing,
20:21which has taken downforce on.
20:23Of course, you can't have a car that understeers excessively
20:26or overseers excessively this year
20:28because you've got to make those tyres last,
20:30so you've just got to have the car really well balanced.
20:33Lots of pressure on this crew.
20:35Toyota management in Japan has said this is not good.
20:37We're putting too much money into the program not to see the results.
20:41Right now, Ralph Schumacher is 13th, Yarno Trulli 15th.
21:00Back live at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.
21:03Friday practice for Sunday's opening round of the Formula One World Championship.
21:07There you see Jensen Button a moment ago.
21:09He jumped up to P3 on the leaderboard,
21:12and he remains there as David Coulthard goes to the top at 127.128.
21:17Pedro de la Rosa at 27.262.
21:20Button, 27.565.
21:22Button there backing right out of it to let that Toyota in front of him
21:26give himself some road room,
21:28so he obviously thought he was going a lot quicker than the Toyota,
21:31which is not good for Toyota.
21:33There's more gravel on the track,
21:34which is not going to be good for the next guy on scene.
21:38Behind Button, it's Alonso, Massa, Montoya,
21:41and the McLaren, remember.
21:43Ricardo Zonta, the Friday driver for Toyota.
21:47Christian Kleen, Nick Heidfeld in the Williams,
21:50and Giancarlo Fisichelas-Renault rounding out the top ten.
21:55Here's Noreen Karthikeyan.
21:58First driver in Formula One from India.
22:01Oh, man.
22:02Jordan was looking just about the same as it did last year on corner entry.
22:04I've never seen a car look so twitchy.
22:07I can't believe they kind of got it sorted out by now.
22:09Well, all last year, of course, we were saying that the Jordan chassis,
22:13actually, I think you said it looked a bit of a pig, frankly.
22:16A lot of movement on the front under braking, very unstable.
22:18Well, when you think that all the FIA regulations of work to do
22:22is to take downforce away from the car and make it even more unstable,
22:25and they've forced them to use much harder compound tyres,
22:29in a way, it's bound to look worse than it did last year,
22:32and it's kind of living up to form, isn't it?
22:34Of course, new owners now.
22:36Alex Schneider, the Canadian domiciled Russian, owns the team.
22:40Different crew in there running it,
22:42and obviously completely different drivers paying for it.
22:45While we're watching this, Giancarlo Fisichella, back with Renault this year,
22:49has made a statement, 27.116 P1.
22:52He declared himself the favourite to win this race earlier this week.
22:56Earlier on, just when we were in break and had a shock off the world feed there,
23:00the Renault mechanics hard at work pulling the back of the car apart
23:03with overheating problems.
23:05They were looking at the right radiator, engine radiator, at the back of the car there,
23:09and I think that's something we're going to see a lot of problems of.
23:12None of the teams, until getting down here in Melbourne,
23:15have been able to do any hot weather running.
23:17They've been down in Valencia, they've been in Barcelona, they've been in Imola,
23:21but they've had a lot of snow, a lot of cold weather, and a lot of rain,
23:24and really all the teams are a little bit nervous,
23:27bearing in mind as well that the Indians have got to last two race weekends this year,
23:30not just the one race weekend, which is quite incredible.
23:33They're all a little bit nervous about how to make the body work aerodynamically efficient.
23:38That means pulling it in tight and closing everything off,
23:41but giving enough cooling to keep the engines alive.
23:45Kimi Raikkonen has just gone to P1.
23:51126.692.
23:52Boy, that is incredible how quick they're going.
23:57Considering the plethora of rule changes have taken place,
24:01including taking about 15% of their downforce away
24:03and sticking them on harder tires and telling the engine a lot for two weeks.
24:07Here they are running around a couple of seconds slower than last year.
24:10Actually, 25 or 30% of the downforce,
24:12but the engineers have been earning their money during the offseason,
24:15clawing all that back again.
24:18And the drivers have been saying all winter,
24:20I don't think we're losing that much time.
24:23Even with the hard tires,
24:24even with the engines that were supposed to be detuned,
24:27that everyone says they're more powerful than they were last year.
24:30We'll be back.
24:42We'll be back.
24:52We'll be back.
25:13Back live once again to the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne.
25:16This is Tiago Montero,
25:19who has joined Naren Kartikeyan
25:22in what is now known as the Jordan Midland F1 team.
25:27Eddie Jordan sold out last year to Alex Schneider,
25:30a Russian-born Canadian and an industrialist.
25:34After 14 years in Formula 1,
25:36Eddie Jordan is not here this weekend,
25:37and he wouldn't tell anybody where he was going to go to watch the race from.
25:44Montoya cranked out at 26-2.
25:47I mean, really getting down on the time now,
25:49so McLaren's 1-2 at the moment.
25:52They were looking a threat all through winter testing,
25:54and well, Pedro De La Rosa, 6th.
25:58The mirrors are moving an awful lot in this chassis.
26:03Yes, they are.
26:04They've been doing that all day.
26:05The left is moving as well,
26:06but the little graphic we have on screen that kind of hides it.
26:11With Montoya and Raikkonen now running 1-2,
26:13it makes me wonder whether they're working on qualifying setup
26:16with De La Rosa trying to bang out those laps
26:18and have a look at the tyre wear.
26:20Ron Denny said, you know,
26:22yes, we're eligible to run the third driver,
26:24and some journalists are saying,
26:25well, will you run a third driver?
26:27Do you think, you know,
26:27the idea was that the third driver was to help the small teams out?
26:30It's not really for one of the grandiose,
26:33the big three in a way,
26:34which was always traditionally Williams, Ferrari and McLaren.
26:37Ron Denny said, listen,
26:38if we have the right to run a third driver,
26:40we will run that third driver absolutely to the nth degree
26:44to make sure we capitalise on it.
26:46Absolutely.
26:46And just when you thought McLaren couldn't come up
26:48with an uglier uniform for their pit crew.
26:51Hey, presto, there it is.
26:53You stand corrected.
26:55Amazing peach coloured shirts on the crew.
26:59Guys, you were talking earlier on about,
27:00you know, downforce being reduced on these cars
27:03by up to 30%.
27:05One of the BAR aerodynamicists I was talking to said,
27:07yes, it hit us at 30%
27:09when we did our first evaluations
27:11of the changes in the wind tunnel at Brackley.
27:15And another senior aerodynamicist,
27:17not from BAR,
27:19when I was talking to him very recently,
27:21he said, you know,
27:22I don't want you to write this.
27:23I was writing an article for F1 Racers,
27:25I don't want you to write it,
27:25but here's an idea.
27:27We believe we have now clawed,
27:29this is seven days ago,
27:30we have now clawed every ounce
27:32of that downforce back again.
27:34Can you believe that they haven't lost
27:36a single ounce of downforce on the car?
27:383,000 pounds of downforce on the car.
27:41So just a little bit.
27:43And looking at the wing configuration on the car,
27:46you're right, moving the rear wing forward
27:47has been a big, big loss
27:49at the start of the winter testing.
27:51Raising the front wing,
27:52as you rightly say, David,
27:53because you need that aerodynamic balance
27:55over the car,
27:56it hasn't really been such a negative factor
27:58because you work to balance the car out
28:00and you work to get the downforce
28:02on the back of the car
28:03and balance it on the front.
28:04So that hasn't really been a big loss.
28:06Look at the front wing on the 2004 M,
28:09the modified car,
28:10you'll see there's like a small wing,
28:11a step underneath the front wing,
28:13right under the centre section.
28:14And a little chin wing.
28:16Yeah, as Rory Byrne there
28:17putting that in the winter.
28:19Now remember, this is last year's car
28:21trying to claw that downforce back.
28:23Just, it's just amazing.
28:25Well, for the FIA to make such a draconian
28:28cutting downforce
28:29and then to get it back
28:29in just one winter's testing
28:31is almost unbelievable, really.
28:38Cranking it over there,
28:39a little bit of understeer showing.
28:40That'll wear the old tyre out quick enough.
28:50To fourth goes Rubens-Battachello
28:52from 11th
28:53as he completes his seventh lap.
28:59Well, it's not really a fair fight, is it,
29:01when you come down to the engineers.
29:03You have ten teams
29:04full of the finest automotive
29:05and aerodynamic engineers in the world.
29:07Real military-caliber people.
29:10And so you've got a couple of rules makers
29:11who said, well, the teams won't suggest to us
29:13how to cut downforce,
29:14so we're just going to tell them how to do it.
29:15You think those guys are not going to get it back
29:17over a winter's time?
29:18Yeah, exactly.
29:19I mean, I think it's fascinating
29:21how they've done it.
29:22However, my question is always,
29:23well, you know, guys,
29:24if you can manage to claw that downforce back
29:26and you've got, what, £3,000 on the car now,
29:28why didn't you do a better job
29:29with the car and the configuration
29:30you had last year?
29:33Ah, they said, well,
29:34it forces us to explore new avenues.
29:37Because Michael Schumacher
29:38and Rubens-Battachello
29:40are going to have to do
29:40all their own tyre evaluation here.
29:42They don't have the luxury of a third car
29:45to help them do some of that evaluation.
29:52In the Formula One technology arms race,
29:55the latest weapon appears to be supercomputers.
29:58If you don't have something the CIA
30:01would use to break codes with,
30:03then you're just not up to speed.
30:04I think it was,
30:05I saw in one of the Renault brochures
30:07that they did the...
30:10Ralph Schumacher into the...
30:12Keep going, let it roll, let it roll, let it roll.
30:14Too late and stuck.
30:16They'll be stuck for sure.
30:17Ah, break up.
30:18On the feed.
30:19Well, it's a lovely shade of blue
30:20on the tires.
30:25Ah-ha, proof.
30:26Formula One cars can go into reverse.
30:30That worked rather well.
30:32It worked very well.
30:33Nice round of applause.
30:41You watched from the onboard during the opening practice session,
30:44and we noticed right away that Ralph Schumacher
30:46was short-shifting to an extraordinary degree.
30:51Robbie Anderson, who basically gave birth to this factory Toyota operation
30:56before being phased out last year.
30:58I don't know if I saw a little bit of body work moving on the left-hand side of Ralph's
31:02car
31:02as he tries to bring it back, probably gravel damage, or it may have been even gravel coming out of
31:07the radiator ducts.
31:08Of course, they've got to be very careful now because of this one engine for two Grand Prix weekends.
31:14If they think there's any possibility of gravel being inside the radiators, you need to come in and clear that
31:18out.
31:19You can't risk anything happening to these engines any longer.
31:24The quarter at the top remains Montoya, Raikkonen, Massa, Barichello, Coulthard, Fisichella, Michael Schumacher, Alonzo Button, and Pedro De La
31:34Rosa.
31:35And in 11th place, Jacques Villeneuve in the Sauber.
31:44Back in Adelaide.
31:46Just over 19 minutes remaining in this second Friday practice session in Melbourne.
31:52Adelaide.
31:52That was Freudian, folks.
31:54You'll find out why in a few minutes.
31:55On board with David Coulthard.
31:58Coulthard's done 15 laps already, as is Fisichella and Jenson Button, so they'll crank it down for some laps.
32:04Montoya, Raikkonen, only done eight and nine.
32:07And look at the left front tyre there.
32:09The chassis is a lot of wear being put on to that left front shoulder.
32:23See that dark groove right on the outside of that front.
32:26You know, you wouldn't have thought that that tyre would last a race distance, would you?
32:30Mark Webber slipping into the Williams.
32:34Mark Webber climbing aboard the machine.
32:37And our mom and our dad were all home again.
32:39We saw him earlier in that little mini music piece that we opened the segment with, showing Sir Jack Grabham
32:46and Alan Jones.
32:47This year is the 25th anniversary of Alan Jones winning the world championship for the first for Williams back in
32:541980.
32:55I remember Alan Jones starting his race career.
32:58Doesn't seem that long ago.
33:00Never alone being world champion.
33:02Here's another one for you.
33:03Tomorrow would have been Jimmy Clark's 69th first day.
33:11Those Viking horns looking particularly apropos with old Kimi Raikkonen there, sticking out of his head.
33:17If he knows any Wagner, he could sing for us.
33:21His teammate De La Rosa has now cranked out 38 laps, so he's 20 shy of a race distance.
33:28I don't think De La Rosa is going to be able to do it, but this is going to be
33:31great,
33:32useful data from McLaren to make that decision on the tyre, if De La Rosa can pull it off.
33:36Let's see if he completes this lap.
33:38Maybe we'll get a 25 out of it.
33:40Last year on Friday, a 26, a 1 minute 26 would have been a very respectable time on a Friday
33:47session.
33:49A little bit slow on that second sector.
33:51Montoya now at 26 too, so it ain't bad at all, is it?
33:55It ain't bad at all.
33:57What do you say, diffusers being cut, the tyre seals have been cut around the floor.
34:02The rear wing's been moved, the front wing's been raised, the diffusers been dropped.
34:07Hard compound tyres, one engine for two race weekends.
34:11And these guys are cranking out exactly the same times as they did last year.
34:15Watch him to the stripe.
34:22Three tenths.
34:23Slower than his teammate, Juan Pablo Montoya.
34:26That's another thing about these new, harder endurance tyres in Formula 1.
34:31The track will not rubber in and get that much quicker.
34:391995 marked the last time the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix was held in Adelaide before moving to Melbourne.
34:45David Coulthard started on pole next to teammate Damon Hill.
34:49The story of the race was attrition.
34:50Back to the 24 cars that entered, only eight made it to the finish.
34:53Coulthard led early on but slid into the pit wall while making his first stop.
34:57That handed the lead to Hill.
34:59He went on to win by more than two laps with a smoking Liget Mugin of Olivier Panis and the
35:04Arrows driven by Gianni Morbidelli.
35:06Now that was the final race of 1995.
35:09Join us tomorrow as we kick off the new season of Formula 1 decade with the first race of the
35:1495 season.
35:15David and Steve will be with me at 8 p.m. Eastern time as we look back at the 1995
35:19Brazilian Grand Prix from Interlagos in Sao Paulo.
35:23As always, we'll have lots of fun looking back and reliving another of Formula 1's great years.
35:27Again, that's Formula 1 decade, the 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix tomorrow at 8 p.m. Eastern time, only here on
35:34Speed Channel.
35:39Back to the action with just over 13 minutes to go at this second and final Friday one-hour practice
35:45session on the opening weekend of the Grand Prix season.
35:49Giancarlo Fisichella currently in ninth spot.
35:53What a brief off and on.
35:59One of the more dramatic designs of the new season, this Renault.
36:02I think it's beautiful, this car.
36:04It's a trend that they kind of started on last year's car.
36:09And they've just enhanced it and worked it and made it more round and more sculptured.
36:13There's hardly a straight surface anywhere at all on the bodywork.
36:17Have a look if we can get a shot of the front wing.
36:20So sculptured.
36:22From the on-board, this could be the spin.
36:27Oh, that'll do it.
36:28There it is.
36:29Kept it off the gravel.
36:32That's where Ralphie went off into the gravel.
36:34But Fisichella, luckily for him, didn't go in the gravel.
36:36There's that front wing.
36:37There's that front wing you were talking about.
36:38Go ahead.
36:40I was going to say, the regulations on this front wing mean that the outer edges of the front wing
36:45need to be raised up.
36:46But they're not the center section.
36:47So the way the teams can run as maximum amount as possible with the front wing close to the track
36:53is to dip it down into the center.
36:54That's exactly what's happened there.
36:56There it is.
36:57You see the outer sections where the end plates are are now 100 millimeters above the lowest part of the
37:02floor where the skid block is, that wooden plank that we'll talk about.
37:05But the very middle section is not part of that rule package.
37:09So they can keep that down where it was before.
37:12Are you surprised we haven't seen anybody lock up yet today?
37:16Not even when they went off.
37:17I am.
37:18I'm very surprised.
37:18We saw Carter Cayen lock up this morning, didn't we?
37:22That's the only one we've seen all day.
37:24I couldn't tell the difference between the tire smoke and the engine smoke.
37:27And his Toyota let go.
37:31That rule change, of course, that way.
37:33I mean, that is a typical FIA cop-out, in a way.
37:35I mean, why just raise the outside?
37:37Why not just say it's got to be X amount above the road all the way across?
37:42Look at the swoop to that side part.
37:44Well, they could do it.
37:45There's no doubt.
37:45But how they work the regulations is to specify sort of virtual boxes, building blocks around the car where you
37:52can and where you can.
37:53You can't have parts of body work.
38:02See the little sticker on the back of the steering wheel.
38:05FW27 is the designation of the car.
38:07And then 006 will mean that is monocoque chassis number six that they're up to already the first race.
38:14Of course, one that they make is immediately destroyed in the FIA crash test to make sure that it is
38:20structurally sound, as safe as possible for the driver.
38:24Two will be made straight off to the test team.
38:26It doesn't take long before you're into double figures.
38:29That's one of the other rules this year, is much stricter and more onerous crash tests on these cars, particularly
38:36the side impact.
38:44Well, the old times are very close here.
38:471.8 seconds off pole, which, you know, a few years back would have been pretty close.
38:52But that was a step up to 16th place for Mark Webber.
38:56Solid 16th place.
38:56Yeah.
38:57It's scary, isn't it?
38:58Well, these guys are talking about, you know, the problems of the wind tunnel.
39:03Don't forget as well that Williams have reverted back to a single-keel chassis.
39:07Remember that tusk nose design that they come up with last year, which was a twin-keel chassis?
39:13They got nowhere with that, and they've scrapped it, gone back to this single-keel car.
39:18So, really, it's another year of revolution for Williams.
39:21And the only way any team can ever progress is through evolution.
39:25You have to keep working on the design to make it better and better,
39:27which is how McLaren got to where they were before a few years ago,
39:30and how Ferrari have achieved what they have now.
39:33And if you're getting nowhere, okay, fine, you have to scrap the design and start again.
39:37But you can't expect, straight out of the box, a new design to be quick.
39:40Not only did they scrap the design, they scrapped the designer.
39:43True, yeah.
39:44Antonia Terzi, the only female aerodynamicist in Formula 1,
39:47left the Williams team after last season,
39:50and there was quite a bit of two-ing throw about whether she jumped or was pushed.
39:54And they scrapped the drivers, of course.
39:56Got a completely new driver line-up with Mark Webber,
39:59who still really, in truth, is a bit of an unknown quantity.
40:02And, of course, Nick Heidfeld, who's also,
40:04in spite of having done an awful lot of Grands Prix now,
40:06he's still a bit of an unknown, really.
40:09Yeah.
40:09Nick Heidfeld, this will be his 85th Grand Prix.
40:13Up to 15 o'clock.
40:16It's an interesting story, because right there,
40:18the man on the left, Patrick Head, the former technical director,
40:22still with Williams, of course, in the role of, well,
40:25there's Dickie Stanford, team manager,
40:26but Patrick Head, still there as chief engineer,
40:28was very keen on the idea of producing a twin-keel chassis,
40:31and his aerodynamicist at the time, Jeff Willis,
40:34who you'll recognise from being the technical director at BAR,
40:38absolutely said, no, we shouldn't produce a twin-keel chassis,
40:41we can't see an advantage of it.
40:42Well, the upshot was, after the arguments had died away,
40:46that Jeff Willis left and went to BAR and continued with a single-keel.
40:49Williams went down the road of a twin-keel car and, well, failed.
40:54Failed. Back to a single-keel.
40:56Failed. Failed. Failed.
40:58Montoya looking pretty feisty there,
41:01cut through a couple of those corners, the old car dancing around,
41:03but, of course, Montoya, some of the fastest hands in the business.
41:09Montoya just under 1.2 seconds.
41:14Behind his own top time of the session.
41:17Seven and a half minutes to go. We'll be back.
41:23Speed Channel's coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship
41:26is brought to you by the new high-endurance oils from Mobil,
41:29the oil that's changing oil,
41:31and by Michelin, because so much is riding on your tires.
41:37Welcome back.
41:38On board with the seven-time and defending world champion,
41:41Michael Schumacher, who is very close to the fastest time of the session,
41:46just nine thousandths off at the last intermediate.
41:49A little tiny lock-up of brake as he turned it up left-hander.
41:52Can he do it?
41:53Yes.
41:53Oh, yeah.
41:55So very quick in that last sector.
41:59Ferrari laid very low during the off-season testing.
42:02Never ones to win what they call the Winter World Championship
42:05by pounding out fast lap after fast lap.
42:08And actually, they've been a little rueful
42:10in discussing bringing out this F2004M
42:14for Melbourne-spec version of last year's race car.
42:18Oh, we may not be able to hold folks off.
42:20We may not do well.
42:22Yeah.
42:23If you remember, Robert,
42:24you and I were at a press conference at Phoenix many, many years ago
42:28before the start of the Grand Prix
42:29when Ferrari had clearly won the winter testing.
42:33And then, of course,
42:33Ayrton Senna's on the pole by a huge margin
42:36and Ron Dennis was smirking.
42:39Oh, yeah.
42:40You'd call that lock-up.
42:41Can't afford to do that, Rubens.
42:43Well, just looking at the time sheet there,
42:44you see Rubens had lost five seconds of that middle section
42:47and wondering why.
42:48Well, there's the answer.
42:49Well, you see.
42:50Lock-up there, too.
42:51Ask for lock-up, you get it.
42:54Shows how hard they're trying here.
42:56Exactly.
42:56All the drivers are pushing, yeah,
42:57in these closing stages.
43:00Interesting to see Massa there in P4.
43:04Interesting situation about the Ferrari engines.
43:06For the moment,
43:07because this is his last year's Ferrari,
43:09the F2004,
43:10they're running the 053 series engine
43:13and they've given Sauber,
43:15who have got their 2005 car up and running,
43:17they are running the 055 engine,
43:19which is basically the next generation R.
43:22If you're wondering where the 054 disappeared in that series,
43:25Ross Brawn told me
43:26they scrapped the 054 engine
43:28because of the one engine per two race weekend,
43:32so the 054 would never race.
43:33But an unusual situation
43:35that Ferrari are not running the latest spec engine
43:37of their own design.
43:39It's a Sauber.
43:40Whatever he's got in there,
43:41he's trying.
43:42He's decided to abort it
43:43and have another go, I think.
43:44Yeah.
43:45He was on a projected third place lap,
43:47but obviously...
43:49Well, I suppose...
43:50Well, he locked it up.
43:51Right front, yeah.
43:52Just one thing leads to another.
43:53You're going to do it again and again.
43:54This is probably a good time
43:55to push these tyres as well
43:57because you know you're going to give them up
43:58at the end of the day.
43:59If you're pretty much sure
44:00that this is not the set of tyres
44:01you're going to use,
44:02you might as well push them
44:04to the absolute limit
44:05and put somewhere
44:06and have a look
44:06and see how they're going to react.
44:07Yeah.
44:08You're not losing anything at this point.
44:10Riccardo Zanta has jumped to P6.
44:11The order is now Michael Schumacher,
44:13Montoya, Raikkonen, Massa,
44:15Rubens Barrichello,
44:17Zanta, Alonso, Coulthard,
44:19De La Rosa,
44:20and Fischichella,
44:20the top ten.
44:22Here's Felipe Massa.
44:24Look at the build-up off line.
44:27Zanta's just set the fastest
44:29second sector time there,
44:3022-6.
44:32Felipe Massa doing very, very well
44:34in that sauber.
44:36Rubens Barrichello down there in fifth.
44:37Have a look at the side pods
44:39on this thing,
44:39and how high they are.
44:41The reason they've done that,
44:43raise these side pods up,
44:44and they're so small.
44:44You see how convoluted it is
44:46around that section?
44:47Because they've raised the front wing,
44:49the sauber aerodynamist is thinking,
44:50you know,
44:51well, the airflow has, of course,
44:52been raised up too.
44:53So you want to raise the side pods up
44:55to get the airflow to flow
44:56around the chassis
44:57and towards the rear wing.
44:58Well, of course,
44:59for teams that's supposed
45:00to be struggling,
45:01and they, in fact,
45:02have the biggest,
45:03best and most expensive wind tunnel
45:05in Bormula 1.
45:06This is interesting.
45:07What's Kimi going to accomplish
45:09with less than two minutes
45:10to go in the session?
45:11Will he make it round
45:12before the second flag?
45:14Well, you saw him trying.
45:17Pedro De La Rosa,
45:18a 28.5,
45:20quickest in the first sector,
45:21and a 22.6,
45:23quickest in the second sector.
45:25This may show us
45:26what the McLaren Mercedes
45:27is truly capable of.
45:30Yeah, and De La Rosa,
45:31this is his 27th lap
45:33in this session,
45:3542nd overall,
45:36so he's not going to be able
45:37to do the race distance,
45:38but he has been working hard
45:39to do it.
45:40Wow.
45:40Seven chance.
45:41Look at that time.
45:43That's 25.3,
45:45so that's 1.1 seconds slower
45:47than last year's pole.
45:50Which in turn was, what,
45:51three or four seconds
45:52quicker than the previous years.
45:55So, in spite of the hard tires,
45:58the long life engine,
45:59the lack of downforce,
46:01or perceived lack of downforce,
46:03here we are,
46:03almost right back
46:04where we started.
46:05This is the first race.
46:07Yeah, the 2003 pole, Bob,
46:1027.1,
46:11so you're right,
46:11the 2004 pole
46:12was three seconds quicker.
46:13So, they really are
46:14producing some times,
46:15but I'm sure what we're seeing now
46:17is Ron Dennis
46:18and McLaren International
46:19and Mercedes-Benz
46:21wanting all top three positions.
46:23They want to make a statement
46:24that this year
46:25he's not going to be
46:27a Ferrari runaway,
46:28not if we can have
46:29anything to do with it.
46:33So, Alonso will get
46:34one more lap,
46:35but he's got that traffic
46:36in front of him.
46:40Go on, boss,
46:41in front of him.
46:42Alonso up to sixth
46:43from eighth
46:46and bumps Barrichello.
46:50Kimi Räikkönen got around
46:51beginning a hot lap
46:52behind him.
46:53Let's see if De Fin
46:54can make the lap
46:55and just how quickly
46:56he can go.
46:57No doubt he now knows
46:58that his teammate
46:58De La Rosa
47:00set up a really
47:01amazing number.
47:03Nick Heitfeld
47:03goes to P2
47:04in the Williams.
47:05Wow, these guys
47:06are really quick.
47:07I'm surprised
47:07that they're pushing
47:08so hard, chaps,
47:09because of this
47:10reliability on the
47:11engine.
47:11I would have thought
47:12they'd want to play
47:13it very cool and calm.
47:15Michael Schumacher
47:15talking with his
47:16Bridgestone engineer.
47:19And anxiously
47:20looking at the
47:21at the timepiece.
47:24That's what happens
47:25when you push too
47:25hard in the closing
47:26stages.
47:27Yeah, because he had
47:27Alonso behind him
47:28who rather screwed up
47:29Alonso's attempt
47:30for the last
47:32fling, I think.
47:33It's a really
47:33angular looking car.
47:35That's a sharp
47:35edge.
47:36When you look at
47:36that, when you look
47:37at both the Renault
47:38and the Sauber.
47:42Kimi Raikkonen
47:43at 28.5.
47:45That's the fastest
47:46first sector we've
47:47seen.
47:47Actually, it matches
47:48the one put up
47:48by De La Rosa.
47:54Remember, Raikkonen
47:55was the first man
47:56out of this race
47:57a year ago
47:58when the Mercedes
47:58engine let go
48:00in a fairly
48:01spectacular way.
48:02Yeah, it was about
48:02what, like nine
48:03or ten into the race
48:04that water pump
48:05failure put it out
48:06and that set off
48:06a whole string
48:07of Mercedes
48:08engine failures.
48:11Throwing down
48:12the gauntlet
48:12at the early
48:13stage of the year.
48:14Come on.
48:20Oh, three-tenths
48:22off.
48:24But it is a
48:25McLaren 1-2
48:26with Friday-only
48:27driver Pedro
48:28De La Rosa
48:30heading his
48:31teammate.
48:31Nick Heidfeld
48:33whom we saw
48:33not at all
48:34during the whole
48:35session
48:35puts up a
48:36great lap
48:37for the
48:38Williams BMW.
48:41Oh, this is
48:42Doornbosch going
48:43off with the
48:44Renault just
48:44behind him.
48:46So that was
48:47Alonso's lap
48:48pretty well
48:49scuppered.
48:49Look at the
48:50tire tracks.
48:52Alonso finished
48:52up well down
48:54actually.
48:55From that skid
48:55I would say
48:56these tires are
48:56not terribly
48:57hard.
48:58Left plenty of
48:59rubber on the
49:00racetrack when
49:00he got
49:01cattywampus.
49:05Really trim
49:06one Pablo
49:06Montoya
49:07lost a few
49:08kilos.
49:09Lost about
49:1010 or 12
49:10pounds during
49:11the offseason.
49:12It's always
49:13rare short
49:13when you see
49:14the mechanic
49:14walking around
49:15the car with
49:15a fire
49:16extinguisher.
49:20Webber or
49:21Heidfeld being
49:22pushed back.
49:22I couldn't see
49:23the helmet.
49:23That was a
49:23terrific time of
49:24Nick Heidfeld
49:25there so that
49:25would be a bit
49:26of a shock to
49:26Mark Webber in
49:27front of his
49:28hand crowd,
49:28Mike.
49:28I would say
49:29so.
49:31Webber a
49:31tidy 15th in the
49:33opening day here
49:34in Melbourne.
49:40Welcome back.
49:42Up there on the
49:43Tasman Sea, the
49:44boats lie at
49:44their moorings.
49:46Second Friday
49:47practice is now
49:48complete.
49:49David, Steve,
49:50take us through
49:50the results.
49:51Well, a pretty
49:52good day for
49:53McLaren.
49:53Pedro De La
49:54Rosa there
49:54at the top of
49:55the list in
49:55the McLaren
49:56Mercedes.
49:57Kimi Räikkönen
49:57right behind
49:58with a blinder
49:58on the last
49:59lap.
49:59Nick Heidfeld
50:00snuck in
50:00there right
50:01towards the
50:01end.
50:02Michael
50:02Schumacher
50:02probably pretty
50:03happy with
50:04that time
50:04on those
50:057 tenths
50:05off and
50:06Montoya
50:06got pushed
50:07down to
50:07fifth.
50:08I believe
50:08Hermasa
50:08running very
50:10well in
50:10the Sauber.
50:11Yes, very
50:12good.
50:12De La
50:12Rosa
50:12actually banged
50:13out a
50:13total of
50:1447 laps
50:15so just
50:1510 laps
50:16shy of a
50:17full race
50:17distance.
50:17With a
50:18time like
50:18that I've
50:19got to
50:19think that
50:19they changed
50:20tyres after
50:20that little
50:21spin he had
50:21and put him
50:22onto a
50:22softer compound
50:23tyres.
50:23Nevertheless
50:24a fantastic
50:25soulful
50:25McLaren
50:26in that
50:26first session.
50:27Absolutely.
50:27There you
50:28see the
50:28rest of
50:28the
50:28runners
50:29Zonta
50:29in the
50:30Toyota
50:3011th.
50:31Toyota
50:31are not
50:31looking
50:32too
50:32good.
50:32Truly
50:3214th.
50:34And
50:35Ralf Schumacher
50:36in 13th.
50:37Weber
50:37obviously
50:37not very
50:38happy down
50:38in 15th
50:39especially
50:39his teammate
50:40Nick Heidfeld
50:40in 3rd.
50:41One goal
50:42we haven't
50:42really mentioned
50:43very much
50:43of course
50:43Jacques
50:43Villeneuve
50:44I haven't
50:44really seen
50:45an awful
50:45lot of
50:45him at
50:45all.
50:46That's
50:46right.
50:47He was
50:47the first
50:47man on
50:48track in
50:48the opening
50:49hour session
50:50and notice
50:50no minorities
50:51will put
50:52Peter Windsor
50:52on that
50:53story for
50:53Sunday.
50:54That about
50:55does it
50:55for our
50:56first hour
50:56of coverage
50:57of the
50:572005 season
50:58here at
50:59the Australian
50:59Grand Prix
51:00join us
51:00again tomorrow
51:01in primetime
51:018pm
51:02Eastern as we
51:03begin another
51:03season of
51:04F1 Decade
51:05this time
51:05it's 1995
51:07and we'll
51:07start things
51:08off with
51:08round one
51:09the Brazilian
51:09Grand Prix
51:10immediately
51:11following that
51:12at 9pm
51:12we'll have
51:13the first
51:13qualifying for
51:14the Australian
51:15Grand Prix
51:15then Saturday
51:16night at
51:168.30
51:17the second
51:18round to
51:18set the
51:19grid for
51:19the race
51:19followed
51:19immediately
51:20by the
51:20Australian
51:21Grand Prix
51:22at 9.30pm
51:23Eastern.
51:24As always
51:24we'll start
51:25things off
51:25with a
51:25pre-race show
51:26featuring
51:26Peter Windsor
51:27and at
51:2810 o'clock
51:28the cars
51:29will roll
51:29off.
51:30Until then
51:31for David
51:31Hobbs and
51:32Steve Matchett
51:32I'm Bob
51:33Varsha
51:33we'll see you
51:34tomorrow for
51:34qualifying
51:35from Melbourne.
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