A number of cars struggled with rear grip in the first session, frequently
locking their brakes on the dry and dusty circuit.
Ferrari’s Alonso span at high-speed turn eight, and he was joined at the same
corner by his former team-mate, now at Williams, Felipe Massa.
Williams impressed in pre-season, but endured a troublesome weekend in
Melbourne. And Massa now fears the team could slip back if they do not
sufficiently develop their car.
“You’re always concerned that maybe some other teams improve their cars
and we will have the same car,” said Massa.
“We have the same car more or less compared to Australia. This is a
different track, so we need to see how the car behaves here, but we’re
working 100 per cent in the factory to improve.
“I’m sure when we fix the car will grow and show a better balance. We’re
missing a bit of rear downforce but we’re working on that.”