Hamilton Has Nothing to Fear But the Rain

Lewis Hamilton fought off a strong challenge from the Ferrari team to set the fastest time in the second free practice session for tomorrow's Malaysian grand prix here. But with a 90% prospect of rain now predicted for the second round of the 2008 world championship there is every chance of the 56-lap race degenerating into a lottery in the face of a torrential tropical storm.

While Hamilton carried on where he left off last week in Australia, there was also the extraordinary sight of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari rolling to a halt out on the circuit during the opening session, apparently out of fuel after a misunderstanding with the pit crew. Yet it was David Coulthard's Red Bull that made the biggest impact for the most worrying of reasons when, during the first free practice session, it appeared that a right front steering arm came away from its attachment to the chassis, ripping both front wheels from the car as it toboganned to a halt on the edge of the circuit. The car was unable to take any further part in the day's activities and the whole episode was examined in detail by the race stewards who requested a detailed technical analysis of the car's construction.

"It's frustrating for David that he wasn't able to take part in the second practice session due to a suspected track-rod issue which is very much a one-off," said Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal. "In order to ensure that the car is fully checked over we decided to use the time sensibly this afternoon and he will resume driving duties tomorrow." Coulthard's Australian team-mate, Mark Webber, did take part in both sessions and was 16th fastest.

Meanwhile Hamilton looked his customary assured and unflustered self at the front of the field. "I am pretty happy with today's results as the car showed consistent pace throughout the session and good overall speed," said the 23-year old after lapping just over 0.1sec faster than Felipe Massa who had his Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen a fraction further back in third place. "Unfortunately the morning session was not perfect as I had a slight problem on the car right at the end but this didn't really have any effect on our planned program of tire evaluation and race set-up work," he added.

It was early days for the Ferrari team whose efforts in Australia were blighted by technical calamities which resulted in both cars suffering engine failures. A detailed technical examination of the engines back at the team's Maranello headquarters in Italy revealed that both cars' engines broke when inlet valves failed due to a fuel-feed problem. Despite Raikkonen's mishap the team remained confident that the fundamental problem had been solved and would not be repeated. "From what we have seen in practice and considering all the Ferrari unknown qualities, I think we will be competitive in qualifying and the race," said the sporting director, Stefano Domenicali.

Meanwhile Jenson Button believes that "all hell will break loose" if the new generation of formula one cars face wet conditions in Malaysia. "I heard they've built some good asphalt run-offs here now," he said. "That's great because we're going to need it. Here it never drizzles, it's always outrageous and all hell will break loose without traction control.

"If there is water running across the circuit, it will be tough. In low-speed corners, if you exit and you've still got lock on and hit a river you don't know is there, it will just spin the wheel and you'll be gone. Trying to control it is very difficult."

Button (Honda), Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) and Jarno Trulli (Toyota) delivered eye-catching performances by finishing fourth, fifth and sixth quickest, while McLaren's second driver, Heikki Kovalainen, was seventh.

Wet weather pitfalls

Lack of visibility

Formula one tires are wide to give the maximum grip permitted by the regulations but when conditions are wet they throw huge clouds of spume at the pursuing cars

Shortage of grip

A build-up of water on crucial sections of the circuit can mean large puddles develop. Hitting them at speed in a formula one car has much the same effect as hitting sheet ice on the motorway in winter

Somebody else having an accident

In the rain it is likely that another car will spin off and career back on to the circuit, collecting another driver in the process and possibly triggering a multiple collision