Räikkönen's Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa started the race from pole position, but was passed by both McLarens in the first two corners of the first lap, eventually finishing in fifth place behind BMW's Nick Heidfeld.

The teams, which are all based in Europe, arrived at the test directly from the Australian Grand Prix, held nine days previously.

[6][7][8] Due to the poor weather, the teams agreed to extend the testing by one day, with Heikki Kovalainen (Renault F1) fastest.

[12][13] Red Bull threatened legal action over Spyker's possession of their car designs to use as evidence against STR, but nothing materialised.

[14][15] The FIA introduced more stringent tests on the cars at the Malaysian race to ensure floor mounting systems used by Ferrari and BMW Sauber were not in breach of the regulations.

After the first race of the season in Australia, the McLaren team had requested clarification of the rules regarding systems that allowed the front of the car's undertray to move upwards under aerodynamic loading at high speed.

Overall reaction to this system was positive, with the Williams team's technical director Sam Michael, who came up with the initial idea, calling it a "pretty good solution".

Ferrari's Felipe Massa set the pace in the first of two 90-minute practice sessions on Friday, with a time of 1:34.972, edging out McLaren's Fernando Alonso by three-tenths of a second.

Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber, Jarno Trulli, Kazuki Nakajima, Ralf Schumacher, and Robert Kubica rounded out the top ten.

Spyker technical director Mike Gascoyne admitted that the team had "made a mistake" in missing the test at Sepang a week earlier.

[26] Scott Speed (STR), Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri), Rubens Barrichello (Honda) and Alex Wurz (Williams) were also eliminated.

Davidson blamed STR driver Vitantonio Liuzzi for obstructing his qualifying lap, stating "he was pretty aware I was behind him".

Although it did not materialise, all the drivers posted quick laps early on to avoid having to set a time on a wet track.

Hamilton, both Ferraris, BMW Saubers, and Toyotas, as well as Rosberg (Williams) and Webber (Red Bull) also passed through to the final part.

Team engineering director Pat Symonds noted that "...the overall level of performance is disappointing, but we now have to knuckle down and make the most of the situation we find ourselves in.

[28] Race stewards initially imposed a 10-place penalty on Coulthard and Barrichello, for changing their engines prior to qualification.

The first lap was eventful: Alonso started better than polesitter Massa and was able to take the inside line into turn one and gain the lead.

[1] Meanwhile, the suspension on Adrian Sutil's Spyker failed at turn four, causing it to collide with Button's Honda and retire from the race.

[34] During the early laps, Massa appeared to have a faster car than Hamilton, and repeatedly tried to pass the McLaren on the inside of turn four.

Button was one of the few drivers who started on the slower harder tyre and was dropping down the field, as Takuma Sato passed the Briton.

[35] The top five positions remained unchanged, however Hamilton's different strategy enabled him to escape Räikkönen and close in on leader Alonso at a second per lap.

[1] Kubica dropped to 13th as his traction control fault worsened, and a train of cars that wanted to pass developed behind him.

[37] Nico Rosberg, running in sixth place after the stops, was forced to retire with hydraulic problems on lap 43.

[46] After their disappointing Malaysian race, Ferrari boss Jean Todt stated that they "will try to do a better job" in the next round in Bahrain.