WilliamsF1 6th & 7th after opening Friday practice

By Andrew Hooper
March 5 2004

   
Australian GP Friday 1st Practice
 
MontoyaThe opening Friday practice for the 2004 Australian Grand Prix would see the BMW WilliamsF1 driver struggle to match the pace of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, who a time below last years qualifying time to be quickest.

On a track that was still very dirty and offering very low grip both Juan Pablo and Ralf could only manage sixth and seventh respectively. The worrying thing for the teams including WilliamsF1 was the pace of the new F2004 Ferrari. Both Juan Pablo and Ralf were over two seconds a lap slower.

MontoyaSecond was Rubens Barrichello followed by Renaults Jarno Trulli. Fourth quickest was McLaren's David Coulthard. The session would not see many laps completed by the drivers, mindful of having to go easy on their engines.

Also with teams such as WilliamsF1 using these sessions now to do testing for the race various fuel strategies may also have come into play.

The session would see all but the top four teams running a third car with a test driver at the wheel. Jordan, Toyota, BAR and Jaguar took advantage of the opportunity.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps

1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:25.127 224.263 Km/h 4
2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:25.361 + 0.234 9
3. Trulli Renault (M) 1:27.025 + 1.898 10
4. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:27.264 + 2.137 5
5. Alonso Renault (M) 1:27.359 + 2.232 14
6. Montoya WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:27.462 + 2.335 12
7. R. Schumacher WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:27.675 + 2.548 11
8. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:27.867 + 2.740 7
9. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:27.921 + 2.794 25
10. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:28.089 + 2.962 6
11. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:28.118 + 2.991 17
12. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:28.233 + 3.106 5
13. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:28.874 + 3.747 6
14. Panis Toyota (M) 1:28.955 + 3.828 11
15. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:29.120 + 3.993 6
16. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:29.169 + 4.042 12
17. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:29.826 + 4.699 11
18. Wirdheim Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:30.033 + 4.906 23
19. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:30.046 + 4.919 7
20. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 1:30.100 + 4.973 18
21. Glock Jordan-Ford (B) 1:31.626 + 6.499 11
22. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:32.886 + 7.759 14
23. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:33.236 + 8.109 8
24. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) No Time 1
 
 
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