By Nick Sparkes
March 31 2006

Toyota were greeted by warm, sunny weather on Friday morning, but continued to struggle due to a lack of grip. The team were using the newer specification Bridgestone tyre, which is hoped will drag the Japanese team up the grid this weekend. But, throughout today, that seemed pretty unlikely. Friday – First Session

As the norm, many of the high rank teams in the pit lane, failed to make much of an impression on the time sheets. Anthony Davidson did his job for Honda by going fastest, with Doornbos putting in a good lap to go second in his Red Bull Racing Ferrari. Jacques Villeneuve was the highest finishing race driver in third, although the 1997 World Champion has taken an engine change prior to this weekend. Ralf Schumacher was the highest placed Toyota in seventh, completing only five laps, but noticeably quicker than Alex Wurz in the McLaren whose Friday duties allowed him to complete nineteen laps. Jarno Trulli decided to sit out this session, only completing a couple of installation laps.

1	A. Davidson		Honda	1:28.259	26
2	R. Doornbos		Red Bull	1:28.558	19
3	J. Villeneuve		BMW	1:28.595	16
4	K. Räikkönen		McLaren	1:28.713	5
5	F. Massa		Ferrari	1:29.025	7
6	M. Schumacher		Ferrari	1:29.041	5
7	R. Schumacher		Toyota	1:29.411	5
8	A. Wurz		Williams	1:29.461	19
9	R. Kubica		BMW	1:29.576	13
10	C. Klien		Red Bull	1:29.601	7
11	D. Coulthard		Red Bull	1:29.676	9
12	S. Speed		Scuderia Toro Rosso	1:31.017	8
13	C. Albers		Midland F1	1:31.017	8
14	T. Monteiro		Midland F1	1:31.812	10
15	T. Sato		Super Aguri	1:34.036	9
16	Y. Ide		Super Aguri	1:36.684	19
17	Markus Winkelhock		Midland F1	1:36.859	17
18	N. Jani		Scuderia Toro Rosso	1:40.818	4
19	F. Alonso		Renault	no time	2
20	G. Fisichella		Renault	no time	2
21	J. Trulli		Toyota	no time	2
22	JP. Montoya		McLaren	no time	2
23	N. Heidfeld		BMW	no time	1
24	R. Barrichello		Honda	no time	1
25	V. Liuzzi		Scuderia Toro Rosso	no time	2
26	M. Webber		Williams	no time
27	N. Rosberg		Williams	no time
28	J. Button		Honda	no time

Friday – Second Session

The second session was much more productive, with all the teams completing a good number of laps in order to get sufficient data for the weekend ahead. This of course, forced Toyota back into the midfield, with Jarno Trulli sixteenth and Ralf Schumacher eighteenth. Between the two Toyota’s was Scott Speed in his limited V10 Toro Rosso, surely Toyota will be hoping to be ahead of them come Sunday afternoon? Once again Anthony Davidson did his stuff by going fastest, but with Wurz second and Kubica third for BMW-Sauber, it was a good day for the Friday testers out on track. The fastest race driver during this session was Britain’s Jenson Button in fourth.

1	A. Davidson		Honda	1:26.822	28
2	A. Wurz		Williams	1:26.832	27
3	R. Kubica		BMW	1:27.200	25
4	J. Butto		Honda	1:27.213	12
5	F. Alonso		Renault	1:27.443	14
6	M. Schumacher		Ferrari	1:27.658	16
7	K. Räikkönen		McLaren	1:27.773	16
8	R. Barrichello		Honda	1:28.075	20
9	JP. Montoya		McLaren	1:28.200	15
10	F. Massa		Ferrari	1:28.227	17
11	G. Fisichella		Renault	1:28.280	11
12	J. Villeneuve		BMW	1:28.440	22
13	D. Coulthard		Red Bull	1:28.531	18
14	M. Webber		Williams	1:28.860	18
15	N. Heidfeld		BMW	1:29.053	5
16	J. Trulli		Toyota	1:29.138	20
17	S. Speed		Scuderia Toro Rosso	1:29.196	18
18	R. Schumacher		Toyota	1:29.379	16
19	T. Monteiro		Midland F1	1:29.713	21
20	R. Doornbos		Red Bull	1:29.876	32
21	C. Klien		Red Bull	1:29.879	9
22	N. Rosberg		Williams	1:29.933	11
23	N. Jani		Scuderia Toro Rosso	1:30.686	26
24	V. Liuzzi		Scuderia Toro Rosso	1:30.734	14
25	C. Albers		Midland F1	1:30.830	18
26	Markus Winkelhock		Midland F1	1:31.260	25
27	T. Sato		Super Aguri	1:32.556	27
28	Y. Ide		Super Aguri	1:34.224	22