Friday March 1st, 2002

Finn Kimi Raikkonen was looking forward to Saturday's qualifying session after a difficult but promising practice session for the Australian Grand Prix.

The young Finn, who impressed in his rookie season with Sauber last year and was signed to replace compatriot Mika Hakkinen, was able to outpace his more experienced teammate David Coulthard in both practice sessions today, and despite a few problems with his car, Raikkonen was looking forward to qualifying.

"There is no doubt that the weather conditions made things tricky today and changed our planned programme a bit," admitted Raikkonen, who was seventh quickest, more than two seconds behind Michael Schumacher's Ferrari.

"We had a few minor problems and like most teams we have a completely new car here so we just need to familiarise ourselves with how it works at this particular track. I'm now looking forward to tomorrow's qualifying."

Teammate's David Coulthard progress was hampered by a problem with a wheel hub during second practice, which stopped him from running during the second half hour. The Scot finished the day in eleventh position, and as the majority of the drivers, was hoping the weather was better on Saturday.

"We didn't run in the latter half of the second session as there was a problem with the left rear wheel, so I didn't get a quick run on new tyres which was a shame," explained Coulthard. "The weather made things a bit difficult so let's see what happens tomorrow when hopefully the sun will be shining."

Published at 05:33:30 GMT