 Davidson was fastest in both practice sessions at Indy |
Honda test driver Anthony Davidson set the pace in both practice sessions at the US Grand Prix on Friday to give the beleaguered team a much-needed boost. The Englishman set a best time of one minute 12.013 seconds in the second session at Indianapolis, and was just 0.070secs slower in the first.
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher was the fastest race driver with a time set in the morning session.
BMW Sauber tester Robert Kubica was second fastest in the afternoon.
Honda race drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button were both in the top five fastest times in the first session, when most leading runners did not bother to set a time.
 | It's nice to have a car that feels normal underneath me |
Button slipped down to eighth and Barrichello 18th in the afternoon, although the Brazilian was fifth fastest of the day with his morning time and the Englishman sixth. Honda arrived at Indianapolis on the back of a poor race in Canada, in which Button lost the final points position on the last lap when he was overtaken by Red Bull's David Coulthard.
But Button is hopeful the team can put on a more competitive showing in the US.
He said after practice on Friday: "It has been a positive day and we've made a few changes which have worked out well for us, so overall a good start to the weekend.
"It's looking better than Montreal did at this stage, thankfully, and it's nice to have a car that feels normal underneath me.
"We have something we can really work with and keep improving through the rest of the weekend so fingers crossed for tomorrow and the race."
World championship leader Fernando Alonso was ninth fastest, describing it as "a normal Friday".
Schumacher ran off the track during his brief foray in the first session, and blamed the incident on Germany's World Cup quarter-final against Argentina, which was at half-time at the time.
Schumacher said: "Let's say I had more problems trying to watch the quarter-finals on TV than I did in the cockpit of my Ferrari.
"When I went off the track this morning, maybe I was thinking too much about the grass on the football pitch, but I'm very happy Germany won."
Combined Friday practice times at the United States Grand Prix:
1. Anthony Davidson (GB) Honda one minute 12.013 seconds
2. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:12.458+
3. Robert Kubica* (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:12.089
4. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:12.933
5. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:13.090+
6. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:13.189+
6. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:13.264
7. Giorgio Mondini (Ita) MF1-Toyota 1:13.327
8. Tiago Monteiro (Por) MF1-Toyota 1:13.387
9. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:13.474
10. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.474
11. Scott Speed (US) Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:13.688
12. Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-Cosworth 1:13.691
13. Neel Jani (Swi) Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:13.710+
14. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:13.725
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:13.735
16. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.825
17. Jacques Villeneuve (Can) BMW Sauber 1:13.857
18. Alexander Wurz (Aut) Williams-Cosworth 1:14.050
20. Christian Klien (Aut) RedBull-Ferrari 1:14.084
21. Christijan Albers (Ned) MF1-Toyota 1:14.169
22. Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 1:14.391
23. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:14.449
24. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Cosworth 1:14.562
25. David Coulthard (GB) RedBull-Ferrari 1:14.676
26. Robert Doornbos (Ned) RedBull-Ferrari 1:14.839
27. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:15.063
28. Sakon Yamamoto (Jpn) Super Aguri-Honda 1:15.120
16. Franck Montagny (Fra) Super Aguri-Honda 1:16.489+
25. * = Test driver not eligible to race; + = time set in first session
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