Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello dominated first practice on Friday morning in Malaysia, lapping two seconds faster than their nearest rival.  The DHL Jordan Hondas of Takuma Sato and Giancarlo Fisichella were 6th and 9th fastest respectively, the former having previously only driven around the Sepang track in a Honda NSX road car.

It is difficult to draw any conclusion from the opening session other than to say Ferrari looks like continuing where it left off in Australia two weeks ago.  Nick Heidfeld and Enrique Bernoldi were 3rd and 4th quickest, probably on low fuel runs, while the Williams duo of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher were back in 10th and 11th.

It was a very difficult first session for McLaren, David Coulthard's car pulling off the track after only three laps with smoke billowing from its rear, and Kimi Raikkonen a lowly 14th.