Length: 5.443 km
Number of Laps: 56 (310.408 Km)
Best Lap: JP. Montoya - 1'34''223 (2004, Williams)
Record Pole: M. Schumacher - 1'33''074 (2004, Ferrari)
2005 Pole: F. Alonso - 1'35''090 (Renault)
2005 Podium: F. Alonso - J. Trulli - N. Heidfeld

The Briton’s circuit of Sepang in one minute and 35.041 seconds was enough to claim the benchmark position from Williams’ Alex Wurz who finished three tenths down.

Wurz had been strong in the morning’s run, however he couldn’t find the extra pace needed to fight Davidson’s Honda.

Bahraini winner Fernando Alonso was third quickest in his Renault, seven tenths down on the top time.

In a promising sign for the remainder of the weekend, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) pushed the Spaniard hard.

Alonso’s teammate Giancarlo Fisichella and his Sakhir adversery Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) finished sixth and seventh.

The trio of teams who fought for honours in Bahrain – Renault, Ferrari, and McLaren - were again closely matched as the circus moved into Asia.

Honda too were in the mix but the two race drivers weren’t as competitive as their reserve man Davidson.

Jenson Button gave the team an eighth place finish, however the Briton was over one and a half seconds off his teammate’s benchmark time and almost a second down on Alonso.

Jacques Villeneuve put BMW in the top ten with the ninth fastest time while Jarno Trulli gave Toyota some reason for hope in eleventh.

Viantonio Liuzzi embarrassed the senior Red Bull team with the 15th fastest time in his V10-powered Scuderia Toro Rosso.

The Italian’s effort was enough to put him ahead of both David Coulthard and Christian Klien.

Anthony Davidson may have been fastest on Friday but Honda weren’t entirely pleased with the Briton’s effort.

Davidson’s time on track is of vital importance in choosing tyres and set up but in Malaysia he spent a long stint on the sidelines after spinning into a gravel trap.

Just 10 minutes into the hour-long session he lost the rear of the car and spun off the circuit backwards, beaching his car in the process.

Davidson’s mistaken meant that Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were forced to put in extra miles and thus extra stress on their already race-wearied V8 engines.

Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren) and Viantonio Liuzzi (Toro Rosso) also had spins on day one.

Unlike Davidson, the pair were able to find their way back onto the circuit and limit the damage from their mistakes.