Williams’ Friday test driver Kazuki Nakajima provided the major incident of Friday’s first 90 minutes of Malaysian grand prix practice when he spun.
With Alex Wurz sitting out the morning session at Sepang to make way for the Japanese, Nakajima had to abandon the Toyota-powered FW29 in the last corner after just fifteen laps.
Felipe Massa predictably set the pace in his dominant Ferrari, but hitting a whopping 84.2kph in the speed-limited pit lane cost the Brazilian 4,800 euro, payable to the stewards.
The second and final 90 minutes of free practice at Sepang on Friday was disrupted late in the session when a rear tyre on Christijan Albers’ orange Spyker car blew.
Although the timing clock continued to tick down, the session was red flagged to clear debris caused by Albers’ flailing right rear, after the Dutchman again proved the slowest car in the field.
When the circuit was re-opened a few minutes later in the incredible Malaysian heat, the Renault V8 aboard Mark Webber’s Red Bull seemed to let go, and the Australian ground to a halt on the inside of turn 9.
It was an otherwise fairly uneventful session, with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa maintaining his dominance, closely followed by the Renaults of Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen.
World champion Fernando Alonso languished in twelfth place.
GP Sepang: second free practise
1 F. Massa Ferrari 1:35.780 34
2 G. Fisichella Renault 1:35.910 36
3 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:36.106 37
4 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:36.160 33
5 N. Rosberg Williams 1:36.523 31
6 A. Wurz Williams 1:36.621 21
7 R. Kubica BMW 1:36.717 18
8 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:36.760 28
9 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.797 30
10 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:36.862 25
11 M. Webber Red Bull 1:36.906 18
12 F. Alonso McLaren 1:37.041 26
13 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:37.203 25
14 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:37.282 30
15 J. Button Honda 1:37.578 29
16 J. Trulli Toyota 1:37.712 34
17 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37.855 26
18 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:38.334 27
19 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:38.419 28
20 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38.650 20
21 R. Barrichello Honda 1:38.713 20
22 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:39.807 23
GP Sepang: first free practise
1 F. Massa Ferrari 1:34.972 17
2 F. Alonso McLaren 1:35.220 24
3 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:35.712 22
4 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:35.779 20
5 N. Rosberg Williams 1:36.308 21
6 M. Webber Red Bull 1:36.522 20
7 J. Trulli Toyota 1:36.597 25
8 K. Nakajima Williams 1:36.885 15
9 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:37.052 22
10 R. Kubica BMW 1:37.121 12
11 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:37.484 7
12 S. Vettel BMW 1:37.837 39
13 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37.882 20
14 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:38.143 24
15 G. Fisichella Renault 1:38.300 26
16 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:38.720 29
17 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:38.966 10
18 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.130 9
19 R. Barrichello Honda 1:39.234 21
20 J. Button Honda 1:39.331 17
21 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:39.357 9
22 C. Albers Spyker F1 1:40.074 25
