Ahead of today's sole free practice session, the air temperature is 36 degrees C, while the track temperature is 47 degrees. Once again, it is bright and sunny. The wind isn't as bad as yesterday but it is 'picking up'.

Eight drivers are using KERS this weekend, those being the BMW, Ferrari, McLaren and Renault duos. The tyre options are the same as in China and Melbourne, the super-soft and medium, which we will refer to as soft and hard.

The lights go green and with moments there are twelve cars on track including Massa, who locks-up and runs wide at Turn 10, a corner that caught out a number of drivers yesterday.

Kovalainen grinds to a halt halfway down the pitlane causing a traffic jam. His pit crew run to rescue the McLaren driver.

While the McLaren crew work on Kovalainen's car, Hamilton and Barrichello are the last drivers to go out for an installation lap.

Ten minutes into the session, Massa is the first driver to head down the pitlane for a second run. The Brazilian was left very disappointed yesterday, admitting that it was "definitely not a good day".

As the Brazilian posts the first time of the morning, 1:36.119, Trulli, Glock and Raikkonen leave their garages.

Massa improves with a 35.553, as Glock goes second with a 36.264. Moments later, Raikkonen posts 34.935 to go quickest as Trulli takes third with a 35.673.

No sooner has Glock improved with a 35.152 to go second, than Piquet posts 35.101 to take the spot.

Glock and Raikkonen both break the 1:34s barrier, as more and more drivers pour on to the track. The German posts 34.386 while the Finn crosses the line at 34.759.

Rosberg goes second with a 34.607, the German maintaining the good form he has shown in previous practice sessions this year.

Buemi goes third and Nakajima fifth only to be demoted when Vettel takes second with a 34.580.

As Hamilton begins his first flying lap of the day, Button goes fourth overall and his Brawn GP teammate thirteenth. Hamilton crosses the line at 34.216 to go second.

Sutil goes quickest in the first sector, both Force India drivers having impressed yesterday. The German goes tenth overall, having had a poor middle sector, as Hamilton goes quickest of all in the first sector.

At 'halftime', it's: Glock, Hamilton, Vettel, Kovalainen, Rosberg, Button, Buemi, Fisichella, Raikkonen and Sutil. At which point Hamilton takes the top spot with a 33.999.

Massa and Alonso are at the foot of the timesheets, the Spaniard having only completed 5 laps. Trulli, Webber and the BMW duo are also down there.

Raikkonen goes quickest in the middle sector, finally crossing the line at 34.067 to go second. The Finn running on a brand new set of hard tyres. Elsewhere, Heidfeld gets it wrong at Turn 9/10, as does Webber moments later.

Hamilton (softs) goes quickest in the first sector, the World Champion really pushing his car. He crosses the line at 32.975, putting a gap of over one second to second=placed Raikkonen.

Form out of nowhere, Massa (hards) produces a 33.769 to go second, demoting his teammate. Elsewhere, the wheel cover on Nakajima's rear-left flies off.

A 34.189 sees Fisichella go fourth with fourteen minutes remaining. His German teammate is currently ninth.

With ten minutes remaining on the clock, only the two Toyota drivers are on track. However, we can expect a flurry of activity with the next couple of minutes. We can also expect softs to be the order of the day.

Having gone quickest in the two final sectors, Glock goes quickest overall, crossing the line at 32.605.

Raikkonen and Piquet both post personal bests in the first sector, as does Kovalainen. Elsewhere, Glock slows dramatically before pulling off to the side of the track. "Can you come back," his crew ask him, "no, the engine is off," he replies.