Kubica fastest in Australian GP practice

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-03-26 14:41

Kubica fastest in Australian GP practice
Ferrari Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Brazil drives during the first practice session of the Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne, March 26, 2010. [Agencies]

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Renault driver Robert Kubica set the fastest time in Friday's opening practice for the Formula One Australian Grand Prix, upstaging the teams favored for Sunday's race.

Kubica's time of one minute, 26.927 seconds around the Albert Park circuit put him two-tenths of a second ahead of Mercedes' Nico Rosberg.

Reigning world champion Jenson Button of McLaren was third fastest, edging out Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

The session was red-flagged twice for accidents involving Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi. In the first he knocked off the front wing of his car when he hit a cone designed to prevent corner cutting, then later the front wing fell off under braking and he was sent across a gravel trap, unharmed.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who won the season-opening race in Bahrain earlier this month, was sixth on the timesheets in opening practice, ahead of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was again second best to his Mercedes teammate, 1.4 seconds behind Rosberg and in 12th overall.

Local hope Mark Webber, seeking to become the first Australian to win his home F1 GP, was a further two places back in 14th.

Kobayashi did the least running as a result of his accidents, completing only five laps, while his Sauber teammate Pedro de la Rosa also was restricted in his running due to a technical problem.

Newcomer Lotus also had headaches, with Jarno Trulli's car having a hydraulic failure and Heikki Kovalainen parking his car at the side of the track at the end of the session.