PRACTICE 2

Nico Rosberg and the Williams team maintained their apparent advantage through the second free practice session for the opening grand prix of the 2009 Formula 1 season at Melbourne, setting the pace once again ahead of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP.

Rosberg had recorded three laps good enough to put him quickest of all, until Barrichello posted a late flier, as the three teams whose diffusers are under protest dominated the top of the timesheets.

In a busy second session in terms of laps, if not incidents, as the teams began to work their new cars into a groove, Jarno Trulli and Toyota team-mate Timo Glock traded times initially until Rosberg moved to the top after half an hour with a 1:26.293 lap.

He then fired in a 1:26.142 before pitting, bolting on a new set of tyres and recording a 1:26.053 - comfortably the fastest time of the weekend so far.

Trulli, who amassed a whopping 42-lap total remained ended up third, 0.297 seconds back, with Mark Webber, the only man to brake into the 'diffuser gang' - producing an extraordinary lap in his Red Bull that put him fourth fastest.

His team-mate Sebastian Vettel spun trying to match the Australian after putting a wheel on the grass under braking for Turn 4. For the second time today, the German was the only man not to complete the session.

Jenson Button was fifth fastest ahead of Timo Glock, as second to sixth was covered by two tenths of a second.

Kazuki Nakajima was seventh in the second Williams, with Vettel eighth.

Force India showed well in the afternoon session. The Mercedes-powered cars of Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella ran second and third early in the session. The German ended it ninth with his veteran team-mate 13th.

Felipe Massa, who looked to be struggling under braking in the Ferrari, was tenth, a second off the ultimate pace and a tenth faster than team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. Both drivers running off track on more than one occasion.

In fact, not one of the three world champions in the field could break into the top ten.

Fernando Alonso could manage no better than 12th for Renault, while the reigning title holder Lewis Hamilton complained over the radio of severe bottoming out as he ended the session 18th, one place behind his McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
1.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:26.053            36
2.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:26.157  + 0.104   38
3.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:26.350  + 0.297   42
4.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:26.370  + 0.317   30
5.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:26.374  + 0.321   38
6.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:26.443  + 0.390   42
7.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:26.560  + 0.507   33
8.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:26.740  + 0.687   19
9.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:27.040  + 0.987   29
10.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:27.064  + 1.011   35
11.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:27.204  + 1.151   32
12.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:27.232  + 1.179   28
13.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:27.282  + 1.229   32
14.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:27.317  + 1.264   34
15.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:27.398  + 1.345   36
16.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:27.479  + 1.426   36
17.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:27.802  + 1.749   35
18.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:27.813  + 1.760   31
19.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:27.828  + 1.775   35
20.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:28.076  + 2.023   33