WilliamsF1 Hungary GP 1st Friday Practice

Both drivers struggled to find a balance on a dusty and dirty track that saw several drivers spin off. Even Ralf Schumacher would lock up at turn two and slide off onto the grass before recovering to the track.

The Arrows team are not participating in this weekend’s Grand Prix, and there is a new face at Minardi in the form of BAR test driver Anthony Davidson, who replaces Alex Yoong for at least two races.

In what must have been a worrying site for the teams it would be Ferrari who would dominate the session led by Michael Schumacher. Schumacher and team-mate Rubens Barrichello would swap fastest times, with Schumacher ending the session with a 1m:16.755, which was three tenths quicker than Barrichello.

In third was Sauber's Felipe Massa. He would be followed by BAR’s Jacques Villeneuve, Jordan’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Villeneuve's team-mate Olivier Panis.

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen set the seventh best time but his car was to have an oil leak which was quickly repaired. Raikkonen found his MP4/17 suffering from oversteer and nervous balance over the bumps. Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld took eighth, ahead of David Coulthard, and Ralf Schumacher.

Renault’s Jenson Button was eleventh, ahead of Takuma Sato. Next was Jaguar’s Pedro de la Rosa, Jarno Trulli, and Juan-Pablo Montoya. de la Rosa would spin in the mid sector of the lap with just three minutes of the session remaining, but managed to recover to the track. Trulli would have a moment in the pits when he got his entry wrong, locked up and almost hit a couple of his mechanics.

Toyota's Mika Salo was  sixteenth, followed by Eddie Irvine, Mark Webber, Toyota team-mate Allan McNish, and Alex Yoong’s replacement Anthony Davidson, who completed twenty five laps. He would set a 1m:21.948, which was promising given that he had never driven a Minardi before today. His only moment was a spin at turn six after his rear wheels locked up

For the BMW WilliamsF1 team the opening session has always been one of taking things slowly aiming at finding a balance for their cars. But on this difficult track things may be just that much more difficult for the team.