WilliamsF1 outside top ten after Friday practice

Both BMW WilliamsF1 drivers would finish the second Friday practice at Bahrain out of the top ten. With the FW27 carrying several improvements the team may have been looking for a better result. But both drivers spoke of how, even though they are looking for more pace, the two sessions allowed them to get through a considerable amount of work which will help them come Saturday. Nick would beat Mark in this session finishing in eleventh while Mark was in fifteenth.

With Toyota's Ricardo Zonta fastest in the opening Bahrain practice the teams were faced with even hotter conditions for the second, with temperatures at 38 degrees Celsius. With that it would be Jordan's Robert Doornbos first out followed by Liuzzi. They would be joined by Wurz. and the Minardi pair of Friesacher and Albers.

Doornbos would set a time of 1m:36.529, but Wurz was looking very quick. He would set a time of 1m:33.844 to go fastest. The Minardi's were in third and fourth. BAR's Takuma Sato was also out on the track and he would quickly move into second with a 1m:35.601.

Zonta would pass the Japanese driver to occupy second with a 1m:33.735. Red Bull's Christian Klien was now in third with a 1m:34.204. Joining Wurz at the top was team-mate Raikkonen who went fastest with a time of 1m:33.297. Button would go third fastest, while Wurz would pit. Zonta would take second with a time of 1m:33.513. The start of this session was very different to the earlier one which saw only a handful of drivers et times in the first half hour.

With neither Renault driver setting a time in the earlier session it would be Giancarlo Fisichella who would set their first time, a 1m:37.035. Nick Heidfeld was out and would move into eighth. Joining Fisichella was Alonso and the Spaniard would move into sixth with a time of 1m:34.367. Fisichella would improve with a 1m:35.093, to be ninth right behind Nick.

With just over ten minutes of the session run Alonso was now in fourth with a
1m:33.788. For Ferrari the new F2005 seemed to be performing well with Michael
Schumacher moving up to second with a 1m:33.358. A 1m:33.761 would be good enough for fifth for Toyota's Jarno Trulli. Sauber's Jacque Villeneuve continued to have a difficult time been down in nineteenth. On his third times lap Trulli would move to the top of the times with a 1m:33.295.

Wurz would put in a very quick time, a 1m:30.695, to go fastest by a considerable margin. But do not forget that he is a Friday driver with none of the constraints imposed on the drivers who have to qualify and race. Red Bull's David Coulthard moved into seventh with a 1m:33.708. At the front Alonso would go second with a 1m:33.000. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and WilliamsF1' Mark Webber were yet to take to the track. Webber was out of his car talking to his engineers.

With the session nearly half over Mark was in his car and out onto the track. Klien sets a time of 1m:33.436 for eighth position. Takuma Sato would stop n the track with a problem. Mark's first time was a 1m:34.384, moving him into fourteenth ahead of Nick. But his team-mate would move ahead with a time of 1m:34.365.

Ralf Schumacher was now in third with a 1m:33.246. Mark would improve to move ahead of Nick but it was only for fourteenth. Michael Schumacher takes third from Ralf with a 1m:33.107. Despite his show of speed the Ferrari did suffer from several tyre lock ups during the session. Rubens had yet to come out. Alonso would set a very quick time, amongst the race day runners, with a 1m:32.217. de la Rosa was right behind with a 1m:32.333.

Button was now in fourth with a 1m:33.037. With further adjustments to his car Michael Schumacher would improve to now be in fourth with a 1m:32.901. It was confirmed that Rubens would not run his car in this session. Fisichella improves to be sixth with a 1m:32.708. With ten minutes left to run Ralf would move into eighth with a 1m:33.077.

Alonso would continue to impress with a time of 1m:31.969 to remain in second. Raikkonen had moved up to seventh with a 1m:32.988. Liuzzi would set an impressive time to be third, a 1m:32.319. In the closing minute Nick would improve to now be in eleventh, with a 1m:33.152, to be ahead of Mark. Sato would set a time of 1m:33.205 good enough for twelfth, while Trulli was now in sixth with a 1m:32.595 as the session came to a close.