Ferrari's Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets in the first free practice at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday as reliability problems saw the new Formula One season open with a whimper rather than a bang. The twice world champion Spaniard posted a lap of one minute 31.840 seconds with half an hour left in the 90 minute session and held his half-a-second lead over McLaren's second-placed Jenson Button in brilliant sunshine at Albert Park. After a winter testing in which teams struggled to come to terms with the new turbocharged hybrid engines, drivers spent much of the session cooling their heels in the garages, while technicians tinkered. The biggest surprise of the session was...
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