Ahead of today's first free practice session, the first time that Formula One cars have been driven in anger in Turkey, the air temperature is 28 degrees C, while the track temperature is 39 degrees. There's been no overnight rain, but the sky is overcast.

The first driver to drive an F1 car on the new Istanbul Park track is Pedro de la Rosa, he is followed by Zonta, Kiesa and Liuzzi.

Brand new circuit, same old routine.

That said, as the four 'third drivers' return to their garages, having completed the customary installation lap, Michael Schumacher takes to the track, followed by Doornbos, Karthikeyan, Albers, Monteiro, Button, Villeneuve, Barrichello and, Minardi new boy, Toccacelo.

Schumacher carries on around, and for a moment it seems that the seven-time World Champion will post the first ever time at the 'Park', however he dives back into the pitlane at the last possible moment.

de la Rosa is back on track, as is Zonta, while Massa, Sato, Coulthard and Raikkonen all come out for their installation lap.

It's Zonta that posts the first time at the Istanbul Park, the Toyota tester crossing the line at 1:33.753, though moments later de la Rosa posts 1:31.038.

As Liuzzi and Kiesa return to the track, de la Rosa and Zonta continue to lap the circuit, the Spaniard getting the time to 1:28.585.

With seventeen minutes of the session gone, everyone has been out for an installation lap except the WilliamsF1 and Toyota drivers.

Incidentally, both WilliamsF1 drivers are using the engines they used in Hungary three weeks ago.

Robert Doornbos returns to the track, as do Toccacelo and Fisichella. The Dutch driver posts 1:38.105, which puts him 4.5s off Kiesa's pace, and he's already 5s down on de la Rosa.

Twenty-five minutes into the session, the two Toyota drivers leave their garage. Elsewhere, Toccacelo posts a time, but he's 18.3s off the pace - bring back Nissany we say!

As Toccacelo gets down to a more respectable 39.902, de la Rosa improves to 28.453. Albers, Karthikeyan and Monteiro all make it on to the timesheets, but all are over 9s off the pace.

As Massa and Raikkonen leave their garages, de la Rosa raises the benchmark ever higher with a 28.315.

As Villeneuve and Montoya come out to play, Raikkonen goes third with a 31.689. Meanwhile, de la Rosa improves to 27.882.

As Montoya goes fifth (32.018), Villeneuve goes twelfth, splitting Doornbos and Toccacelo, with a 38.094. Elsewhere, Kimi improves to second with a 1:29.572. Juan Pablo also improves, taking fourth with a 30.229.

Villeneuve improves (35.461) but remains twelfth, as teammate Massa posts 31.857 to go fifth.

Michael is back on track, as are Button, Sato, Fisichella and Trulli. The two williamsF1 drivers have also been out.

The World Champion's first lap sees him slot in behind Villeneuve, 7.9s off the pace. Meanwhile, Alonso goes fifth with a 31.795.

Villeneuve posts 32.148 to go eighth, but is soon demoted by Fisichella and Michael, who go fifth and sixth respectively.

Alonso improves again, to reclaim fifth, crossing the line at 30.641. However, he is almost instantly leap-frogged by Webber (30.425).

A 1:30.589 sees Button go sixth, as Coulthard, Klien, Ralf and Heidfeld, remain the only drivers not to have posted times.

Heidfeld appeared to be on a hot lap, but dived back into the pits at the last moment. Elsewhere, Webber and Michael both have spins.

With fifteen minutes remaining, it's: de la Rosa, Zonta, Raikkonen, Webber, Button, Montoya, Alonso, Trulli, Sato and Fisichella. Michael is eleventh, ahead of Coulthard, Barrichello and Massa.

With white smoke pouring out of his Minardi, Robert Doornbos is called back to the pits by his team. Meanwhile, Nick Heidfeld has a minor 'off'.

Pace-setter de la Rosa stops on track in the McLaren. There was no smoke from the car, it simply ground to a halt. Let's hope that this isn't a sign of things to come for the Woking team this weekend.

Surprisingly, the marshals seem indifferent, and there's no attempt to remove his car.