Davidson puts Honda on top

Honda test driver Anthony Davidson put in a blistering late lap to top the timesheets in yesterday's practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Briton, who will not race tomorrow, spun off early in the second session before pipping Austrian Alex Wurz, his Williams counterpart who was quickest in the morning, with a lap of 1:35.041.

World champion Fernando Alonso, who won the season-opener in Bahrain last weekend, was quickest among the race drivers in 1:35.806.

The 24-year-old Spaniard did 14 laps in the Renault as temperatures rose to 45 degrees Celsius at the Sepang circuit.

Alonso was closely followed by Brazil's Felipe Massa, who needs to qualify well today after being hit with a 10-place penalty on the grid after the engine in his Ferrari was changed.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was next fastest ahead of Alonso's team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella.

Ferrari's seven times champion Michael Schumacher and Honda's Jenson Button, second and fourth in Bahrain, finished seventh and eighth respectively.

Juan Pablo Montoya, the quickest of the race drivers in the first session, was in a hurry to get his season going after a fifth place finish last week. Halfway through the hour, his McLaren stalled in the pit lane and the Colombian was so eager to get it to the garage he grabbed a jack and started to drag it back himself before his pit crew took over. He later spun off and was able to post only the 14th quickest time.

Many top drivers preferred to sit out most if not all of the first session to preserve their engines, which will be running for a second race tomorrow.