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By Mark Orlovac
0141: No proper times posted as yet. Schumacher comes out, and then pops back in again. Meanwhile, breaking news regarding the new Virgin team - and it’s a corker. BBC F1 commentator Jonathan Legardreveals that they are being forced into making major alterations](http://www.paklinks.com/sport2/low/motorsport/formula_one/8588379.stm)to their car as its fuel tank is too small to get to the end of races. Brilliant.francescolombo on Twitter:](http://twitter.com/francescolombo)"So nice to finally see a proper F1 circuit and surrounding… season starts today (tonight!)."0135: Every driver has been out for an installation lap, everyone that is apart from the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher. Reserve driver Paul di Resta is in the chair for Force India today, in place of Adrian Sutil. He told BBC Sport’s Sarah Holt: “I’m going to be nervous as it’s a whole different situation for me.” Have a look at the full storyhere.](http://www.paklinks.com/gs/8586536)
F1Palmer89 on Twitter: ](http://twitter.com/F1Palmer89)"15 hours into 65-hour waking stint this weekend, any chance Massa p1 in p1 Got a wager on! Failing that Alonso all the way!"0130: We are off. The first 90-minute practice session begins. Like Bahrain, the first car out is the Lotus of Jarno Trulli. 0123: We are getting television pictures of a very warm and sunny Melbourne, which is nice. I’ve just had a question in about the weather for this weekend and looking at the Met Office predictions, Saturday and Sunday will be sunny - with a maximum of 32 degrees for race day. The only rain will be at night.0116: So what do you think Do the rules need tweaking or is it going to take time in order for everything to settle down Should there be, as suggested by McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh and Red Bull counterpart Christian Horner, a mandatory two pit stops ruling And as for the race, who will be top dog this weekend How will you be watching it And will you be getting any sleep Any tips, please pass them on. This is your chance to get involved, get down with the kids onTwitter](http://twitter.com/markorlovac)or text me on 81111 (UK) or +44 7786200666 (worldwide). I’ll be waiting for your call.0113: Parts of the season opener in Bahrain were as lively as a late-night debate in the House of Lords and since then there has been plenty of debate about why that was the case. Was it the ban on re-fuelling, the new tyre rules, the Sakhir circuit itself, the new lay-out in Bahrain - sections of which seemed to have a surface as smooth as Keith Richards’ face, or simply that the teams needed time to get to grips with the new regulations The next three days could give us a few more answers.BBC Sport’s Sarah Holt in Melbourne: "Fast forward 11 hours from Greenwich Mean Time and, hello, welcome to lunch-time in Melbourne where instead of munching sarnies, we’ll be watching Formula 1 cars whiz round Albert Park. Australians love their motorsport and for the last two mornings, at 0830am sharp we’ve been shocked out of our jet-lag by the sound of cars on track. This is the only GP on the calendar when there is on-track action each and every day. Some of the F1 drivers have been complaining that they haven’t been able to walk the track because it’s never been clear for long enough. But it’s a crowd pleaser, and a huge 46,000 people came through the gates on Thursday. More will come over the weekend because in the second grand prix of 2010 there’s plenty worth watching. Michael Schumacher is going for his fifth Australian win, home favourite Mark Webber has his best chance of victory with an in-form Red Bull while McLaren’s one-time winners Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are hopeful they can prosper at the park circuit."0109: Morning gang, welcome to our coverage of the Australian Grand Prix. I trust you’ve had your afternoon siesta and are raring to go for today’s two practice sessions from Albert Park. Here’s the plan - the first session starts at 0130 GMT, the second one kicks off at 0530 GMT - with both being shown on the Red Button and right here on this very website. No falling asleep on the sofa now, I’ll be watching.0105: The opening race of the new F1 season may have been bland in Bahrain, but this weekend it’s going to be marvellous in Melbourne. I guarantee it*.
* PS My guarantees are not legally binding.