Ferrari looks set for a repeat of last year's Malaysian Grand Prix rebound, posting the fastest times in Friday's pre-race practice to shrug off last weekend's disappointing results in Australia.
In 2008, Ferrari finished without a point in Australia and then dominated in Malaysia.
After another pointless finish in Melbourne in F1's season opener last weekend, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa recorded the two best times Friday to hint at another immediate comeback.
Raikonnen's time of 1 minute, 35.707 seconds in Friday's afternoon session was faster than last year's pole-winning time set by teammate Felipe Massa, who was an eighth of a second behind his teammate Friday.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, Williams' Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber of Red Bull followed the Ferrari pair.
Brawn drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, who finished 1-2 in last weekend's season-opening Australian GP, were sixth and seventh on the time sheets, ahead of Williams' Kazuki Nakajima.
Raikkonen's strong showing shook off doubts about the reliability of the Ferrari after a mishap in morning practice, when a short circuit in the KERS energy-storage device sent smoke began billowing into the cockpit and streaming from the rear of the car.
"We had felt that the situation here could be different to Melbourne, but it is still too early to say where we are up against the opposition," Raikkonen said.
"What we can be sure of is that when the car runs trouble-free, we are competitive."
On Melbourne's street circuit, Ferrari was badly hampered by degradation of its softer tires and an inability to get heat into its harder compounds, but Massa said there was better grip on the specialist racing surface of Sepang.
"Clearly looking at the time sheet today, there's a slight feeling of relief," the Brazilian said.
Rain threatened the Sepang circuit in the afternoon, but both morning and afternoon sessions were dry, preventing teams trying out their wet weather settings. This heightened the chances that they will go into Sunday's race - with rain forecast - without the benefit of acquainting themselves with a wet track.
Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella was the main casualty of the second practice, spearing off the track on the dual right-handers of turns 10 and 11, sideswiping the tire wall. It ended his session, but he walked away unhurt.
Rosberg set the fastest time in the morning practice, making it four straight practice sessions in which the German had topped the time sheets after the three at Melbourne last week.
Rosberg's time of 1 minute, 36.260 seconds was just four hundredths of a second quicker than teammate Nakajima.
Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton's horror week - after being stripped of his third place in Australia for misleading stewards in an inquiry - continued when the McLaren driver was fined euro1,200 ($1,600) for breaching the pit lane speed limit during morning practice.
Skipping a beat...
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Whenever my heart skips a beat,
I know its u deep within,
My world of dreams floats across,
I search verily for something,
A glint in your eyes, a smile on...
14 years ago
