Malaysia: Practice - Toyota on the up!
By Nick Sparkes
March 17 2006
There were some biting of finger nails and fidgeting of hands on the Toyota pit wall as the first and second practice session for this weekends Malaysian Grand Prix got underway. But, as the temperature went up, so did Toyota, with the team evidently moving forward.
Friday – First Session
Unlike in Bahrain, Toyota decided to get to work in the first free practice session of the day, skimping the fact that most teams do the majority of their work on Saturday mornings. Completing just a handful of laps, Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli finished a respectable ninth and fourteenth, although this doesn’t represent the true pace of the TF106, as many of the front running teams decided to forfeit this session. Friday testers Alex Wurz, Robert Kubica and Anthony Davidson were first, second and third fastest for their respectable teams.
| 1 | A. Wurz | Williams | 1:34.946 | 19 |
| 2 | R. Kubica | BMW | 1:35.733 | 22 |
| 3 | A. Davidson | Honda | 1:35.997 | 25 |
| 4 | JP. Montoya | McLaren | 1:36.709 | 4 |
| 5 | D. Coulthard | Red Bull | 1:37.042 | 7 |
| 6 | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:37.043 | 4 |
| 7 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:37.557 | 18 |
| 8 | R. Doornbos | Red Bull | 1:37.604 | 18 |
| 9 | R. Schumacher | Toyota | 1:37.826 | 9 |
| 10 | C. Klien | Red Bull | 1:38.448 | 5 |
| 11 | N. Jani | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:38.668 | 21 |
| 12 | J. Trulli | Toyota | 1:38.837 | 8 |
| 13 | S. Speed | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:39.599 | 14 |
| 14 | T. Monteiro | Midland F1 | 1:39.899 | 8 |
| 15 | G. Mondini | Midland F1 | 1:40.092 | 22 |
| 16 | V. Liuzzi | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:40.123 | 8 |
| 17 | C. Albers | Midland F1 | 1:40.608 | 12 |
| 18 | T. Sato | Super Aguri | 1:41.072 | 18 |
| 19 | Y. Ide | Super Aguri | 1:43.449 | 19 |
| 20 | K. Räikkönen | McLaren | no time | 1 |
| 21 | F. Alonso | Renault | no time | 2 |
| 22 | G. Fisichella | Renault | no time | 2 |
| 23 | J. Villeneuve | BMW | no time | 1 |
| 24 | N. Heidfeld | BMW | no time | 1 |
| 25 | M. Webber | Williams | no time | |
| 26 | N. Rosberg | Williams | no time | |
| 27 | R. Barrichello | Honda | no time | |
| 28 | J. Button | Honda | no time |
Friday – Second Session
Unlike the first session, all the drivers completed a healthy number of laps, and once again Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were out in force as the team tried to understand the problem which halted the team’s progress back in Bahrain. With Jarno finishing the session eleventh and Ralf seventeenth, there were signs of improvement from the Japanese team. As in Bahrain, Anthony Davidson was fastest, with Fernando Alonso the fastest race driver in third.
| 1 | A. Davidson | Honda | 1:35.041 | 14 |
| 2 | A. Wurz | Williams | 1:35.388 | 30 |
| 3 | F. Alonso | Renault | 1:35.806 | 14 |
| 4 | F. Massa | Ferrari | 1:35.924 | 22 |
| 5 | K. Räikkönen | McLaren | 1:36.132 | 15 |
| 6 | G. Fisichella | Renault | 1:36.182 | 14 |
| 7 | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | 1:36.617 | 17 |
| 8 | J. Button | Honda | 1:36.661 | 12 |
| 9 | J. Villeneuve | BMW | 1:37.045 | 9 |
| 10 | R. Barrichello | Honda | 1:37.270 | 13 |
| 11 | J. Trulli | Toyota | 1:37.317 | 23 |
| 12 | N. Heidfeld | BMW | 1:37.418 | 7 |
| 13 | R. Kubica | BMW | 1:37.457 | 28 |
| 14 | JP. Montoya | McLaren | 1:37.463 | 12 |
| 15 | V. Liuzzi | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:37.590 | 22 |
| 16 | D. Coulthard | Red Bull | 1:37.603 | 8 |
| 17 | R. Schumacher | Toyota | 1:37.695 | 20 |
| 18 | N. Jani | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:37.831 | 23 |
| 19 | S. Speed | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:37.926 | 21 |
| 20 | M. Webber | Williams | 1:38.081 | 5 |
| 21 | N. Rosberg | Williams | 1:38.205 | 6 |
| 22 | G. Mondini | Midland F1 | 1:38.256 | 20 |
| 23 | C. Klien | Red Bull | 1:38.644 | 10 |
| 24 | C. Albers | Midland F1 | 1:38.918 | 20 |
| 25 | R. Doornbos | Red Bull | 1:39.105 | 28 |
| 26 | T. Monteiro | Midland F1 | 1:39.416 | 20 |
| 27 | T. Sato | Super Aguri | 1:41.549 | 22 |
| 28 | Y. Ide | Super Aguri | 1:43.164 | 16 |