As Anthony Davidson waits at the pitlane exit, the air temperature is 36 degrees C, and the track temperature is 51 degrees. The Englishman is replacing BAR teammate Takuma Sato who is suffering from a viral infection.

Before the free practice sessions this morning, Anthony's experience of this circuit was limited to free testing in 2003 and Friday free practice in 2004.

At the first split the Englishman posts 24.4, followed by a 29.2 at the second. He crosses the line at 34.866 to set the benchmark.

Christijan Albers is next out, at the first split the Dutchman is already 0.9s down on the BAR driver. He makes a mistake in the second sector and is consequently already 3.2s down. At the line the Minardi driver posts 1:40.432.

Nick Heidfeld's Australian GP ended in a tangle with Michael Schumacher. By the second split the WilliamsF1 driver is 0.7s up on Davidson, going on to cross the line at 1:33.464 to take provisional pole.

Michael Schumacher pushes hard, too hard, and by the second split he's down on his countryman. The German continues to lose ground in the final sector and consequently crosses the line at 1:34.072, that's 0.608s down on Heidfeld. He was quicker through the speed-trap though.

Patrick Friesacher is already almost a second down on Heidfeld by the time he completed the first sector. At the second split he's 3.1s off the pace, finally crossing the line at 1:39.268, which at least puts him ahead of his teammate.

At the first break the order is; Heidfeld, Schumacher, Davidson, Friesacher and Albers.

Jordan's Tiago Monteiro is next out, thus far he has been largely outshone by teammate Karthikeyan. At the first split he's 0.9s down on Heidfeld, and 2.6s down at the second. The Portuguese driver crosses the line at 1:37.856 to go fourth.

Teammate Karthikeyan is next out. At the first split the Indian is 0.6s down on the WilliamsF1 driver, while at the second split the deficit is 2.7s. The Jordan driver crosses the line at 1:37.806, to take fourth from his teammate.

Under-fire Jacques Villeneuve is next out. His first sector is good, he's down on Heidfeld but it's marginal. At the second split he's 0.7s down on the German, going on to cross the line at 1:34.887, which puts him fourth.

The Toyotas looked good this morning, what can Ralf Schumacher do now, when it really matters? He's already down on Heidfeld at the first split, but only just. He's pushing hard, and makes up time in the second sector, he's up on the WilliamsF1 driver. At the line it's 1:33.106, a great lap and provisional pole from the German.

Jenson Button didn't get any running in the today's second session, he's next out. Sadly, as a result of an engine change, he'll loses ten grid spots. At the first split he's 0.2s up on Schumacher, can he maintain the pace? No, he loses a little ground in the second sector. At the line it's 1:33.616, which is good enough for third. However, we still have ten drivers to run.

At the second break, Ralf Schumacher is quickest, ahead of Heidfeld, Button, Michael, Davidson, Villeneuve, Karthikeyan, Monteiro, Friesacher and Albers.