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Red Bull once again set the Formula One pace on Friday as Mark Webber had the fastest time in practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, edging out McLaren's Jenson Button.
Continuing where the team left off from the successful season opener in Australia, Webber finished just five hundredths of a second quicker than Button, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel both within a quarter of a second — setting the stage for a qualifying clash between the top two teams on Saturday.
There was a gap between those drivers and the rest of the field on a humid but dry day at the Sepang circuit. Mercedes drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were fifth and seventh respectively, and Ferrari's Felipe Massa was in sixth.
Webber's result will be a boost after a disappointing season opener in his home Australian Grand Prix.
Webber said the performance was "definitely better than Melbourne" but that the McLarens still pose a difficult challenge.
"I hope we can get rid of the gray guys," Webber said, referring to the color of the McLaren cars.
Red Bull used the KERS power boost system, as it did during practice in Australia. While the team ditched KERS for qualifying and the race in Melbourne, the initial indication was that it will use it throughout the race weekend at Sepang.
"The (KERS) system has worked well and reliably and a decision (on its use this weekend) will be made this evening," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. "McLaren look competitive, Mercedes are not far away and Ferrari have not showed their full hand yet. ... But in terms of our own performance it was a solid day."
Asked about the possibility of using KERS in the race, Vettel said "we will try to use it".
Button struggled for rear grip during morning practice, but was enthused by the strong showing in the afternoon.
"We made a lot of changes, really turned the car upside down, and it's performing much better now," Button said. "Now we are back on track and we have a good direction."
Massa was disheartened by the gap between the Ferraris and the leading teams.
"I expected to be a little bit quicker, especially looking at the McLaren and the Red Bull," Massa said "Here it's a big fight between (Red Bull) and McLaren so I expect to be there. We are not, so we need to work very hard for that."
Mercedes had a miserable first race in Australia, where neither car finished, but Schumacher said Friday's performance indicated the team may be ready to match its promising results from preseason testing in Spain.
"Indeed, definitely made a step more towards what we had in Barcelona. and probably a bit more to come for tomorrow, so reasonably happy," Schumacher said.
Renault had a troublesome day, losing plenty of running time after both of its cars suffered wheel and suspension failures in the morning practice run. In the most worrying incident, the upright part of the suspension on Vitaly Petrov's car collapsed under braking, sending the Russian spearing across a gravel trap.
Both Renault drivers were sent out midway through afternoon practice, with Nick Heidfeld setting the eighth-fastest time of the session, bettering Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in ninth and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari in tenth.
Williams' rookie Pastor Maldonado had the 11th-best time in the session after he ran onto the grass while trying to enter the pit approach road and spun into a fence.
Hispania also had a tough day, with both of its cars suffering mechanical failures and Narain Karthikeyan facing punishment after speeding in the pitlane.
However, both Hispania drivers looked capable of qualifying for Sunday's race, given Karthikeyan finished within seven percent of Webber's time in the afternoon session. Drivers need to be within seven percent of the best car in the first part of Saturday's qualifying or they can't race. Both Hispania cars did not make it under the threshold in Australia.
Virgin's Jerome d'Ambrosio did not participate in the afternoon practice after his car experienced a suspension problem in the morning session that his team was unable to resolve, while Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen had problems with his differential and took little part.
Having not had the chance to test their wet weather tires Friday, teams will be hoping the tropical rain holds off for Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race, though forecasts indicated a high probability of a downpour on Sunday.
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Associated Press writer Julia Zappei contributed to this report.
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Continuing where the team left off from the successful season opener in Australia, Webber finished just five hundredths of a second quicker than Button, with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel both within a quarter of a second — setting the stage for a qualifying clash between the top two teams on Saturday.
There was a gap between those drivers and the rest of the field on a humid but dry day at the Sepang circuit. Mercedes drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were fifth and seventh respectively, and Ferrari's Felipe Massa was in sixth.
Webber's result will be a boost after a disappointing season opener in his home Australian Grand Prix.
Webber said the performance was "definitely better than Melbourne" but that the McLarens still pose a difficult challenge.
"I hope we can get rid of the gray guys," Webber said, referring to the color of the McLaren cars.
Red Bull used the KERS power boost system, as it did during practice in Australia. While the team ditched KERS for qualifying and the race in Melbourne, the initial indication was that it will use it throughout the race weekend at Sepang.
"The (KERS) system has worked well and reliably and a decision (on its use this weekend) will be made this evening," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. "McLaren look competitive, Mercedes are not far away and Ferrari have not showed their full hand yet. ... But in terms of our own performance it was a solid day."
Asked about the possibility of using KERS in the race, Vettel said "we will try to use it".
Button struggled for rear grip during morning practice, but was enthused by the strong showing in the afternoon.
"We made a lot of changes, really turned the car upside down, and it's performing much better now," Button said. "Now we are back on track and we have a good direction."
Massa was disheartened by the gap between the Ferraris and the leading teams.
"I expected to be a little bit quicker, especially looking at the McLaren and the Red Bull," Massa said "Here it's a big fight between (Red Bull) and McLaren so I expect to be there. We are not, so we need to work very hard for that."
Mercedes had a miserable first race in Australia, where neither car finished, but Schumacher said Friday's performance indicated the team may be ready to match its promising results from preseason testing in Spain.
"Indeed, definitely made a step more towards what we had in Barcelona. and probably a bit more to come for tomorrow, so reasonably happy," Schumacher said.
Renault had a troublesome day, losing plenty of running time after both of its cars suffered wheel and suspension failures in the morning practice run. In the most worrying incident, the upright part of the suspension on Vitaly Petrov's car collapsed under braking, sending the Russian spearing across a gravel trap.
Both Renault drivers were sent out midway through afternoon practice, with Nick Heidfeld setting the eighth-fastest time of the session, bettering Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in ninth and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari in tenth.
Williams' rookie Pastor Maldonado had the 11th-best time in the session after he ran onto the grass while trying to enter the pit approach road and spun into a fence.
Hispania also had a tough day, with both of its cars suffering mechanical failures and Narain Karthikeyan facing punishment after speeding in the pitlane.
However, both Hispania drivers looked capable of qualifying for Sunday's race, given Karthikeyan finished within seven percent of Webber's time in the afternoon session. Drivers need to be within seven percent of the best car in the first part of Saturday's qualifying or they can't race. Both Hispania cars did not make it under the threshold in Australia.
Virgin's Jerome d'Ambrosio did not participate in the afternoon practice after his car experienced a suspension problem in the morning session that his team was unable to resolve, while Lotus' Heikki Kovalainen had problems with his differential and took little part.
Having not had the chance to test their wet weather tires Friday, teams will be hoping the tropical rain holds off for Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's race, though forecasts indicated a high probability of a downpour on Sunday.
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Associated Press writer Julia Zappei contributed to this report.
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