How Malaysian Grand Prix practice unfolded

The report on second practice by chief F1 writer Andrew Benson is in, so head on over and have a read, especially if you are just waking up and catching up on how things panned out.

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Lewis Hamilton was dominant in Malaysia last year, securing pole and then winning the race with ease. History to repeat? Or could some of the problems that hampered his time on the circuit today have a say on how things pan out this weekend?

A great effort from Manor as their first bit of track time in 2015 saw them complete 34 laps, with the team reporting "a reliable and solid first day".

Despite problems ruling him out of most of first practice and over 30 minutes of second, Lewis Hamilton ensured he finished Friday on top but, even so, he was not completely happy with his car.

Hamilton, though, was not alone in having issues, with fair number of drivers reporting poor grip levels.

1) Hamilton 2) Raikkonen 3) Rosberg 4) Kvyat 5) Bottas 6) Massa 7) Vettel 8) Verstappen 9) Ericsson 10) Ricciardo

11) Maldonado 12) Nasr 13) Perez 14) Sainz 15) Hulkenberg 16) Alonso 17) Button 18) Grosjean 19) Stevens 20) Merhi

Into the closing stages of second practice and Daniil Kvyat reports an issue and has to bring his Red Bull back into the pits. A frustrating day once again for Red Bull and a concerned-looking Christian Horner watches Kvyat's return.

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Mercedes: Prime (hard) tyres forNico Rosberg with a live pit stop - he's back out and underway once more... Keen eyes will have noticed a slightly unusual stop there - rehearsing the 10sec stop & go routine before the tyre change. All very slick!

Force India's Sergio Perez: "The rears are really bad. I cannot go much faster than this."

Plenty of the drivers have been struggling with grip, particularly on the longer runs. Valtteri Bottas is the latest to report an issue, saying over team radio: "The rear is very snappy."

Fastest of all so far today and Lewis Hamilton is still not completely happy with that run. Worrying times for the rest of the field...

Lewis Hamilton: "Can you here me? I'm having down-graded shifts everywhere."

Kimi Raikkonen passes Lewis Hamilton and the latter slows right down to give himself some clear track. He then embarks on his first timed effort on the medium compound and it is a cracker, a 1:39.790 sending him straight to the top of the timesheet.

Marcus Ericsson was alone on the circuit for a short while but there is a burst of activity as Nico Rosberg, Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Nasr head out to join him. Lewis Hamilton also heads back out, medium tyres strapped on.

"Lewis Hamilton is back in his car. He hopped out and they took the seat out to get to the electronics but he is back in the car and about to head back out."

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Don't forget we now have all our extra streams available during practice, as well as qualifying and race - including pit lane feed, driver tracker and driver on-board.

With just over 30 minutes of the session remaining Kimi Raikkonen has the fastest time with 1:40.163, 0.055s ahead of Nico Rosberg. Valtteri Bottas is third fastest, with Felipe Massa fourth and Sebastian Vettel fifth.

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Lotus: We're calling it a day for Romain's E23. Bit of investigating required that'll take longer than what remains of FP2.

Lewis Hamilton is back in the Mercedes garage and out of his car. He was told to box after Mercedes lost all telemetry and it is a frustrating day so far for the world champion. He certainly doesn't look best pleased as he stands around in the garage.

"Massive understeer," reports Jenson Button over team radio. "We are a long way from where we need to be." The Briton is currently 16th fastest, with his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso 15th.

Kimi Raikkonen utilises the medium tyre to storm into P1 with a 1:40.163, one tenth of a second faster than Nico Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton's first timed effort sees him slot in fifth fastest with a 1:41.169. Meanwhile, Williams duo Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, on the soft tyre, go third and fourth fastest with 1:40.450 and 1:40.560 respectively.

AFP / GettyCopyright: AFP / Getty

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Sebastian Vettel loses the rear of his Ferrari at pretty much the same spot as Roberto Merhi, Turn 11, but manages to avoid sliding into the gravel and is able to get himself back under way.

Swift work as Roberto Merhi's Manor is lifted away and practice can resume. Lewis Hamilton blasts out of the pits and still has plenty of track time ahead of him, with 50 minutes remaining.

Roberto Merhi is one of three drivers yet to clock a timed lap, the others being Lewis Hamilton and Daniil Kvyat.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton looks set to enter the fray. He is strapped into his Mercedes and being debriefed ahead of his first run in this session.

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Red flag as Roberto Merhi spins into the gravel at Turn 11, beaching his Manor. Out he gets as he waits for his car to be lifted away.

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The chances of cooking an egg, Karl, are very good as this picture by Red Bull Racing Spy shows. Track temperatures are a fried egg-producing 60 degrees Centigrade. Yowzer.

Tommy Hill: Great to see @ManorF1Team on track. 3 seconds off the pace, but would love to see them fighting the McLarens.

Karl Healy: What are the chances of cooking eggs and bacon on track?

Everyone had been out on the hard tyres for the first 30 minutes of the session but Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are the first to strap on mediums ahead of some qualifying simulation runs.

"Daniel Ricciardo needs to do a bit of attacking because he is only seventh fastest at the moment. He is behind the sister car, the Toro Rosso, of Max Verstappen. He is also 1.6 seconds off Nico Rosberg, a heck of a long way."

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Much like in the build up to the Australian GP - when the bizarre legal battle between former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde and Sauber dominated the headlines - there has been some soap opera style shenanigans in the lead up to this race.

A once happy marriage between Red Bull and engine partner Renault - who together won world titles between 2010 and 2013 - looks to be on the rocks after a bit of verbal sparring between the two.

After Red Bull's technical guru Adrian Newey claimed there was "no obvious light at the end of tunnel" with the Renault engine, saying "it is quite a long way behind" its competitors, Renault's engine chief Cyril Abitebou responded with "it is hard to have a partner who lies".

Is this a relationship that is destined to end in a messy divorce?

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Red Bull will be hoping for as trouble free a weekend as possible after a bit of mudslinging between the team and engine manufacturer Renault in the build-up to the race.

Daniel Ricciardo has been out in the second session and has the seventh fastest time - a 1:41.799.

"It takes a long time from the point of starting the engine up to actually being ready and prepared. Mercedes said to me prior to the session they would get out in the second half."

The engine on Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes had been fired up a few moments ago but mechanics are still working away.

And Nico Rosberg is straight to the top of the order with a 1:40.438.

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Out goes Nico Rosberg for his first run in second practice. No sign of Lewis Hamilton joining him yet.

Sixteen drivers have clocked timed laps with just under 20 minutes of the session gone. Sebastian Vettel improves at the top of the timesheet with a 1:40.652.

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Lotus: Unsurprisingly, we've brought Pastor in for a spot of checking, general tidy... Maybe even a light dusting...

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A problem with Pastor Maldonado's Lotus as part of the bodywork around one of the sidepods has seemingly popped out. Back to the pits he goes as his team-mate Romain Grosjean locks up and goes off at Turn One moments later.

Much better from Kimi Raikkonen as he gets round the Sepang circuit in 1:41.002, putting him top of the timesheet before his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel nudges ahead of him with a time that is just 0.022s faster.

Will Stevens puts the first time on the board with a 1:46.705. Kimi Raikkonen clocks a 1:53.853 soon after but reports poor traction coming out of the final corner.

Nico Rosberg is in no rush to head out. He's chatting with Mercedes engineers while Lewis Hamilton waits for work to be done on his car.

Manor's Will Stevens is the first to brave the heat and venture on to the circuit and a few minutes later he has Kimi Raikkonen for company.

"The track temperature is nudging 60 degrees. It is the sort of temperatures you encounter in the desert, so very testing conditions."

"The cockpit temperatures are now up to 50 degrees Centigrade, it is sweltering but that will not be concerning Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes have never had this problem before, it is a problem with the inlet system. Mercedes are beavering away and we will certainly not see him for the first 30 minutes of the session."

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On comes the green light and 90 minutes of second practice is under way.

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Red Bull: Time to gear up.

Switch on your televisions, or turn on the radio because Formula 1 is live across the BBC right now. You can watch on BBC Two or listen via BBC Radio 5 live sports extra. Both options are available on this very page.

Second practice gets under way at 06:00 GMT and runs until 07:30.

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Nico Rosberg also has an, erm, interesting solution to the heat of a Formula 1 cockpit - he's taken to wearing a sanitary towel on his forehead.

"I put [a sanitary towel] on my head in to take up the sweat," he says.

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Nico Hulkenberg apparently had a novel trick to cope with the Malaysia heat - freezing his underpants.

I'm not sure if he still does it now, but a few years ago, Hulkenberg would apparently drench his undergarments in water and stick them in a freezer to give him a few minutes of coolness. Novel.

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"Malaysia's tropical heat and humidity are in full swing as the teams and drivers prepare for second practice. Despite the strong wind on Friday, walking around Sepang in these temperatures is like being in a damp oven. What it must be like for the drivers, wearing four-layer fireproof overalls, fireproof underwear, a helmet and balaclava, in cockpits where temperatures will top 60C does not bear thinking about."

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Force India: Nico Hulkenberg meeting The Jacksons! They sang "Can you feel it?", and we think they were referring to #FeelTheForce!

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Between the Formula 1 circus leaving Australia and arriving in Malaysia we got the news that the German Grand Prix would be cut from the schedule.

Nurburgring baulked at paying the hosting fees for the 19 July race and Hockenheim was asked to step in. But track officials failed to agree terms with F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone.

With no German GP on the calendar, it got us reminiscing about the old Hockenheim circuit and twisty stadium section. With that in mind, which circuits that are no longer in F1 do you miss?

Let us know via #bbcf1 or text in to 81111 (UK only) or have your say on the BBC Sport Facebook and Google+ pages.

"Williams were called before the stewards in the break between the first and second sessions after using a set of tyres allocated for use in the first half-hour of the first session when they should not have. The stewards issued a 10,000 euro fine, but suspended it for the rest of the season because they decided the 'infringement was inadvertent and no advantage was gained'."

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If you haven't already, have a read of Lewis Hamilton's latest BBC Sport column. In it, he talks about his winning start, why equalising F1 engines would be unfair, Fernando Alonso's return and Jeremy Clarkson.

Here's a little taster: "At the beginning of the 21st century, Ferrari were dominating and won five championships in a row. They were not equalised with everyone else - the others had to catch up, which they eventually did. And the same goes for Red Bull at the beginning of this decade.

"Now it's our turn."

In case you are just joining us for FP2, here is a brief summary of what happened in FP1:

• Nico Rosberg finished fastest
• Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel second and third respectively
• Fernando Alonso makes his first grand prix appearance of 2015
• Both Manor cars get out on circuit.

For a more detailed review of first practice, have a read of Andrew Benson's report.

Lewis Hamilton certainly does not look as though he is anticipating some track time any time soon. He's just been strolling through the paddock in shorts and a Mercedes t-shirt.

"Don't expect to see Lewis Hamilton out in the early stages of the second session. The world champion stopped on track before setting a time in the first session and investigations have revealed his engine had a problem with the inlet system.

"The part can be changed without affecting his allocation of four engines for the season, but it means Hamilton will be on the back foot for the rest of this weekend, having missed out on a lot of track time. Mercedes say they hope to get him out on track before the end of the second session."

Hello! Welcome to coverage of second practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

After sailing through the practice sessions and on to victory at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was in the unfamiliar position of having to watch his mechanics working furiously on his Mercedes as he sat out the vast majority of first practice.

Hamilton had come to a stop early on because of an engine problem, will he make it out for FP2?

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It was a tale of contrasting fortunes in first practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix as Nico Rosberg finished fastest while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton watched on from the team's garage, his car struck by an engine problem.

No-one else looks capable of challenging the might of the Mercedes in 2015, so could the only team that can stop be them be themselves?

OK then, no doubt most of you have sloped off under the covers for a bit of shut eye so it is time for us to put the brakes on our coverage for the time being. Join us again though at 05:30 GMT for build up to second practice. See you then.

A contrast to Nico Rosberg, though, who will be looking to bite back this weekend after Lewis Hamilton won the season opener.

Also good to see a solid 90 minutes for Manor as they got 16 laps under their belt in their first practice session this year.

So unfamiliar territory for Lewis Hamilton as he not only fails to finish inside the top two in first practice for the first time since China last year, but also fails to post a timed lap after an engine problem cut short his session.

Mercedes have just over two hours to get the issues ironed out for FP2.

1) Rosberg 2) Raikkonen 3) Vettel 4) Grosjean 5) Sainz 6) Ricciardo 7) Verstappen 8) Bottas 9) Kvyat 10) Ericsson 11) Massa 12) Maldonado 13) Marciello 14) Alonso 15) Hulkenberg 16) Perez 17) Button 18) Stevens 19) Merhi

No time: Hamilton

Kimi Raikkonen improves as the timer hits zero, moving to within three tenths of Nico Rosberg, but its not going to be enough to deny the Mercedes finishing fastest....

An unusual issue for Felipe Massa as he reports his "drinks tube" is digging into his back. Another seating issue for Williams, it would seem, after Valtteri Bottas hurt his back in Australia.

The sound of engines fills the air in Sepang with 13 cars out on the circuit with just over three minutes left of this session.

Pastor Maldonado has moment at Turn One - not the first driver to do so - as he locks up and runs wide. He currently has the 12th fastest time.

WilliamsCopyright: Williams

Williams: And off we go! Final runs this morning with the heat still rising - currently 33C air & 44C track.

That's not good news for Lewis Hamilton then as Mercedes confirm it was an engine problem that ended his session early.

First practice will also finish with Hamilton as the only driver not to clock a timed a effort as Roberto Merhi sticks his name on the board with a 1:47.683 - 19th fastest.

"The battle for best of the rest behind Mercedes was an intensely close one between Williams and Ferrari last time out in Australia and Felipe Massa said he expected it to be the same this weekend - and for the rest of the season.

"Ferrari have clearly made a step forward relative to their immediate rivals, if not perhaps Mercedes, and Massa puts this down to them 'improving massively on the engine', which he says is now the equal of the Mercedes.

"Massa believes having Valtteri Bottas back from injury will help the team in their quest to beat Ferrari on track."

Kimi Raikkonen is up to second fastest with a 1:41.016, 0.892s off Nico Rosberg's benchmark, knocking his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel down to third.

Ferrari, along with Williams, are battling to be the "best of the rest" behind the seemingly unstoppable Mercedes.

"Lewis Hamilton has been in deep discussion with the engineers. The floor is off and the gearbox is now off. They don't know exactly what the problem is but they are investigating. There is no way he will be back out in this session."

Lewis HamiltonCopyright: Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has little more to do than twiddle his thumbs in the Mercedes garage as work continues on his car, so instead he has taken to tweeting this picture and the caption: "I had a special helmet made to celebrate Petronas & Malaysia. Due to the FIA's new rule, I can't wear it."

"For those looking for a chink of light at the end of the long, dark tunnel in which McLaren find themselves, Jenson Button offered it, predicting a step forward this weekend. Of sorts, anyway.

"'If you look at it from afar, you probably won't see any changes,' Button said, 'but if you look at the lap times compared to other people, I think you will see a change. The problem is that we are so far behind that you won't see a position change. There will be a good chunk in terms of performance and it comes from the power unit and in terms of cooling but also in terms of aerodynamics as we have got some new parts on the car, which will help. You could get the snowball effect where suddenly you find more time than you expect because things start working and fall into place, which is exactly what I'm hoping happens.'"

Sebastian Vettel is up to third fastest with 1:41.471, while Nico Rosberg continues to lead the way.

Meanwhile, Jenson Button - who finished 11th of 11 in Australia - has the 16th fastest time in first practice so far with a 1:43.100.

Daniil Kvyat had a torrid time in Australia as he had to retire on the formation lap and it looks like there may still be gremlins in his Red Bull. Moments after reporting a loss of power at Turn 5, he then says over team radio there "something strange going on with the brakes and the power".

Sebastian Vettel is on a flyer, and his first run sees him go sixth fastest with 1:42.137.

There's a moment for Felipe Massa as he runs deep into the corner at Turn 11 and is briefly on to the grass, but he recovers and gets back on his way.

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"I am just outside Lewis Hamilton's garage and there is a lot of work going on with the car. They are putting the bodywork on at the moment but it looks a little more serious than just stopping out on track. They have just taken the floor off."

Formula 1Copyright: Formula 1

Formula 1: How do you keep cool when the track temperature is 44C? Dry ice, if you're Dany Kvyat.

"Lotus's Romain Grosjean is confident of a strong performance this weekend, despite his retirement on lap one in Australia. The mood at Lotus is positive this season and Grosjean says he believes there was enough evidence in Australia to mean the team should 'look forward not back'."

Romain Grosjean, who retired on the first lap in Australia, is up to second in the Lotus with a 1:41.543, just under a second slower than Nico Rosberg's best.

We're still waiting for Sebastian Vettel to clock a timed lap for Ferrari, but he is out on to the circuit now.

"I've been out watching on track this morning and a couple of things were very noticeable. One was just how much all the drivers were struggling getting the cars slowed down for the Turn Nine hairpin, with the energy recovery systems in full 'harvest' mode and a tailwind pushing the cars on. Nearly everyone had a 'moment' going in, locking up or running wide.

"The other issue was just how little running the teams were doing. The reduction of permitted engines to just four this season is not doing the show any favours. On the sort of bright side, there are only a handful of spectators here to see the non-action."

Fernando Alonso locks up going into Turn One, prompting him to complete a particularly cagey-looking lap. A much better take of the first corner on his next run and he is pushing a bit harder now.

Will Stevens improves with a 1:47.734. It is not enough to lift him off the bottom of the timesheet but encouraging stuff for Manor as Stevens is told "everything is looking good" over team radio.

Will Stevens takes advantage of the clear circuit to post a 1:51.091, over 10 seconds slower than Nico Rosberg's pacesetting time, but nevertheless a welcome first flying lap of 2015 for Manor.

Manor's Will Stevens is the first to remerge on the circuit after that spell of silence, with 45 minutes of the session remaining.

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"With it being a race engine and those being in limited number it is better to be safe than sorry. Right now, Lewis has done four laps but they were all in and out laps, a sort of 'get to know you' with the circuit and him."

Lewis Hamilton: "There's a click in the rear - and the gears still worked, but I stopped the car like you told me to. I would have made it back." Race engineer: "We have no telemetry so we didn't want to risk the engine."

ThanyapuraphuketCopyright: Thanyapuraphuket

While the teams that struggled with technical gremlins in Australia will be working hard to get things right in Malaysia, the drivers have their own issues to contend with - namely the heat.

The Malaysian Grand Prix is one of the most physically demanding races on the calendar, with temperatures inside the cockpit capable of exceeding 50 degrees Centigrade.

From playing tennis to sitting in a sauna, all the drivers have their own ways of acclimatising. Here's Jenson Button at a heat training camp in Phuket, Thailand, earlier this week.

Before Lewis Hamilton came to a stop, Fernando Alonso recorded his first timed lap in a practice session this year, a 1:45.101 which is the slowest of the 16 times posted so far.

Team garages are a hive of activity at the moment, with the circuit empty.

"The team asked Lewis to bring the car to a halt after he reported some sort of click in the back."

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Lewis Hamilton walks alongside the recovery vehicle as his Mercedes is removed from the circuit. He then hitches a lift off a scooter back to the paddock and that looks like it could be the end of the session for him. Not ideal for the world champion.

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It looks like a possible mechanical problem as marshals wheel the car off the track. Lewis Hamilton clambers out and watches as the recovery truck trundles over to remove the Mercedes.

I've not mentioned Lewis Hamilton, he hasn't done a flying lap yet, but he has just popped up on the television feed, and it is not for a good reason - his Mercedes is stock still on the circuit at Turn 9.

Formula 1Copyright: Formula 1

Nico Rosberg takes his Mercedes off track briefly at turn 9 but recovers to go fastest of all so far with a 1:40.973.

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Out in the Sauber for first practice and making his Formula 1 grand prix weekend debut is is Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello.

The Italian has been a member of Ferrari's young driver programme since 2010 and is Sauber's reserve and test driver for 2015. He won the Formula 3 European Championship in 2013 and finished eighth in GP2 last year.

He is driving Felipe Nasr's C34 today and he clocks a 1:45.259 with his first timed effort.

Dan woods: have manor the least amount of sponsors ever? #pluckybrit!

Toro RossoCopyright: Toro Rosso

Max Verstappen, 17, became the youngest-ever Formula 1 driver when he debuted at the Australian Grand Prix.

It did not play out as he would have hoped, though, as his race was ended on lap 34 as smoke poured out of his Toro Rosso.

He can still make history this weekend, as F1's youngest points scorer. He's so keen to do well this weekend that he was getting a feel for the circuit in the fan zone driving the simulator earlier this week.

Valtteri Bottas goes for his first flyer of the weekend in the Williams and it is better than Marcus Ericsson's effort, a 1:43.432, but his stay at the top of the embryonic timesheet is brief as rookie Max Verstappen puts the Toro Rosso into P1 with a 1:42.725.

Just over 15 minutes into this session and we have our first timed lap, a 1:44.483 from Marcus Ericsson.

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Roberto Merhi is out for his first run for Manor but there is fair bit of spluttering from the car as it struggles around the circuit. He just about manages to get it back to the pits.

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The rain is a regular feature at the Malaysian Grand Prix and it looks like it will be no different this weekend, with showers a feature on the forecast on all three days. Have a watch of our video for the full forecast with BBC weatherman Ian Fergusson.

Stowe: Always find the magic of this track is the weather! What are the chances of a wet race on Sunday?

A trouble-free installation lap for Fernando Alonso as he gets a feel for the McLaren once again.

He had a slight wobble with the steering as he navigated the first turn, but nothing major as he gets the MP4-30 back to the McLaren garage.

"Fernando Alonso is not the only driver returning from an injury this weekend. Williams's Valtteri Bottas also missed the first race of the season, in his case because of a back injury sustained in qualifying in Australia.

"Bottas said he was free of pain by the end of last week and that the team had changed his seating and pedal position to ensure his 'back is in a more neutral position' to prevent it happening again. He said the pain started when he braked for Turn 13 in the second part of qualifying and 'it was like a knife in my back'.

"He was prevented from racing by FIA doctors despite passing the extrication test, a decision he said was 'disappointing' but one that he 'understood and respected'."

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Fernando Alonso claimed his first F1 pole and podium at the Sepang circuit in 2003. He has won the race on three occasions and with three different teams (Renault, McLaren and Ferrari)

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And another first for 2015 - Fernando Alonso makes his first appearance in the McLaren at a grand prix weekend.

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Out rolls the Manor Marussia for the first time in 2015 with British driver Will Stevens the first to venture on to the circuit for the team.

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BBC weatherman Ian Fergusson: "First practice is looking odds on to be dry and generally quite sunny. As we get later on into the afternoon we will see a more meaningful threat of some showers or thunderstorms and certainly cannot rule out, particularly later in the second practice session, of that being rain affected."

The circuit is open and Marcus Ericsson leads the first few cars out on to the Sepang circuit. Off we go!

ManorCopyright: Manor

"There will be two firsts in this session. Or at least there ought to be. Sauber reserve driver Rafaelle Marciello is to take part in a race weekend for the first time and Manor Marussia are expecting to be out for their debut this season.

"Manor driver Will Stevens, pictured above, said on Thursday that the 'plan' was to take part in the entire weekend - and the team have been warned by governing body the FIA that there must not be a repeat of the no-show in Australia.

"The engines have fired up in the garage, so Manor's progress - including whether they can get the cars running - will be watched with interest."

My ramblings have now been joined by live television and radio coverage, on BBC Two and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra respectively. Fill your boots.

"A little lost among his remarks about his testing crash, there was an interesting observation from Fernando Alonso about whether he was happy with his decision to join McLaren given Ferrari's improved performance this season.

"He made a pointed reference to the fact that the Italian team, despite a much better engine this year, are still way off Mercedes' pace. 'With Ferrari, we didn't win the championship but it was a fantastic experience. But five years was enough - I didn't want to be second or third for seven years so I prefer to risk and challenge for victory. Even if you need to take some risk for the first year.' He added: 'After 14 years of Formula 1 and two championships, a podium or fourth place or fifth place is no longer a nice result.'"

Steve Lloyd: 01:55am, massive mug of black coffee, girlfriend asleep next to me, Formula One time from Malaysia with Lee McKenzie and the team!

ManorCopyright: Manor

Manor F1: Well, it's a steamy 36C out on track, 28 ambient, as we prepare for the start of FP1.

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The added bonus of Fernando Alonso's return to F1 media duties was Kimi Raikkonen looking utterly delighted to be in the news conference.

He is probably not the biggest fan of them at the best of times, let alone when pretty much all the questions are directed at Alonso...

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"Fernando Alonso was conspicuous by his absence at the first race of this season, and boy did he make an impact on his first day back in the paddock here in Malaysia.

"In an electrifying - some would say incendiary - performance in the official news conference, Alonso directly contradicted his McLaren team's previous statements by saying that he believed his crash in pre-season testing that left him with concussion was 'definitely' caused by a steering problem.

"If he and McLaren are not very careful, their relationship second time around risks being damaged beyond repair even before he has raced the car. He and team-mate Jenson Button are likely to qualify at the back - but at least for the next little while Alonso has ensured he totally dominates the agenda."

MercedesCopyright: Mercedes

The big news this week was the confirmation that Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas, who missed the Australian GP, have been declared fit to race.

Alonso, has not taken to a circuit in the cockpit of a McLaren since his crash in the second pre-season test in Barcelona, missing the final test and the season opener in Australia as he recovered from concussion. Williams driver Bottas, meanwhile, injured his back in qualifying in Melbourne and was not fit enough to take part in the race.

Unsurprisingly, the main focus of the world's media on Thursday was the return of Alonso to the paddock, even more so after he was put up in the FIA's news conference....

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Red Bull Racing: Pitstop practice under the Sepang sunrise. A great way to start the day!

Right then, you probably know the drill by now but here is what we have coming up today.

First up, 90 minutes of first practice from 02:00 GMT and you can watch it LIVE on BBC Two from 01:55. Then, after a brief snooze for those following in the UK or lunch for those of you in Malaysia, the cars return to the Sepang circuit at 06:00 for second practice, with live coverage once again on BBC Two from 05:55.

You can also follow FP1 on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra from 01:55 and FP2 on the same station from 05:55. All options are available to you on this very page.

Even more farcical than just 11 cars finishing the season opener in Australia race was the fact that only 14 managed to start it, with Manor failing to make the grid, two drivers ruled out through injury and two cars suffering mechanical failure on their formation laps.

Fingers crossed for no such shenanigans this time, although with the heat and humidity posing a different challenge for teams in setting up their cars, and the ever-looming threat of rain in Sepang, a 20-car grid on Sunday is far from guaranteed...

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"After such a dominant performance in Australia, there does not seem much prospect of anyone challenging Mercedes in the near future, but Lewis Hamilton said he would welcome it if it happened. 'I love racing,' he said. 'I like going into the race not knowing who you will be fighting. The more competitive you are, that removes that excitement. But I have Nico on my tail and that keeps it interesting.' Hamilton added that 'Ferrari have made a huge step and it's great to see. I hope they continue to make improvements.'"

Formula 1Copyright: Formula 1

Hello! And welcome to our coverage of Friday practice at a sweltering Sepang.

The Formula 1 circus is in the Far East this weekend, where Mercedes will look to continue their dominant start to the season.

Lewis Hamilton led home a Mercedes one-two at the season-opener in Australia, a routine win in what was a pretty farcical race behind them as just 11 cars managed to reach the finish line.

The Malaysian Grand Prix - round two of the 2015 Formula 1 season.

Will Mercedes turn up the heat on their wannabe rivals?

MercedesCopyright: Mercedes

Or will someone, or something, rain on their parade?

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