Mercedes'good day & Hamilton dominant at the Malaysian GP Practice

The stage was set today with just about everything we expected of Kuala Lumpur:  Heat, humidity, and, within half an hour of the end of the practice session, rain. There was rain yesterday and rain today and rain is projected for the next two days as well. So will we actually get a race?

the practice session seemed to be telling us that, contrary to what Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button said before coming here, their McLaren Mercedes will be strong in Malaysia. But it was only a Friday practice. So who knows. It was clearly a day for Mercedes, though, as the engine of the McLaren team showed, and as the Mercedes team itself set the second- and fourth-fastest times,  with Michael Schumacher again being overshadowed by his teammate Nico Rosberg.

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“We have to be realistic about our performance here and we might still be lacking a little compared to the front runners,” said Schumacher. “The good thing is that you can play with the lines a bit to find time as the track here is quite wide. But in the end, as usual, we will have to wait and see how qualifying and the weather evolve.”

The Force India Mercedes was up in seventh, too, with Adrian Sutil. So it is clearly a Mercedes track.

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton was in dominant form in Friday's practice sessions for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang -- heading both the morning and afternoon timesheets.

Lewis Hamilton topped both practice sessions in a hot and humid Sepang in Malaysia on Friday. Both sessions ran in dry conditions, but thunderstorms have hit the track like clockwork every afternoon this week, and rain is expected to affect qualifying and the race.

Hamilton, who endured a frustrating race in Mlebourne last weekend, was naturally delighted with his car's performance.

"I've got a good feeling in the car -- it's probably the best feeling I've had in the car around this circuit," the 25-year-old Briton told the official Formula One Web site.

"We're still trying to get a better feeling for the tires, but we've made some positive first steps. This evening, I want to sit down with my engineers and make a couple of changes.

Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps

1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.921 19

2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.106 + 0.185 19

3. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.207 + 0.286 25

4. Schumacher Mercedes 1:35.225 + 0.304 14

5. Kubica Renault 1:35.402 + 0.481 22

6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.479 + 0.558 22

7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:35.955 + 1.034 20

8. Alonso Ferrari 1:35.959 + 1.038 20

9. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:35.043 + 1.122 19

10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.100 + 1.179 20

11. Massa Ferrari 1:36.451 + 1.530 22

12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.503 + 1.582 28

13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.645 + 1.724 18

14. Petrov Renault 1:36.712 + 1.791 9

15. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:36.891 + 1.970 25

16. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.899 + 1.978 24

17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:37.802 + 2.881 27

18. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:38.278 + 3.357 18

19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.460 + 4.539 21

20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.755 + 4.834 17

21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:40.159 + 5.238 25

22. Fauzy Lotus-Cosworth 1:40.721 + 5.800 19

23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:41.832 + 6.911 27

24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:41.966 + 7.045 24