Even more Friday news briefs from Melbourne

The two McLarens were first and second in Friday’s rain-affected final practice session, but team boss Martin Whitmarsh vowed to not "get carried away" by the performance. But Lewis Hamilton told reporters: "It (the car) feels better than probably it has ever felt here at this track."

Sauber removed the McLaren-style ’F-duct’ from its C29 car after the first Friday morning practice session in Melbourne. "It’s not an easy system to get working properly," said Pedro de la Rosa, who revealed that the plan is to have the innovation up and running "in the next few races". The Swiss team also said Kamui Kobayashi’s second front wing problem on Friday was the result of "damage earlier to the wing".

Renault boss Eric Boullier on Friday said the team is not following McLaren and Sauber into designing a so-called F-duct. "We do not want to be distracted by something that we think is not dramatically faster," he told Germany’s motorsport-total.com.

After nearly hitting the rear of the Spaniard’s Sauber in the fast turn 11/12 at the end of second practice, Jenson Button said Pedro de la Rosa apologised to him. "It’s not all down to the driver, I think it’s important for teams to give drivers the correct information," said the reigning world champion.

Team bosses on Friday urged caution amid calls for rule changes in the wake of the processional 2010 season opener in Bahrain two weeks ago: "Changes can definitely be for the worst as well as for the better," said Ross Brawn, although Christian Horner admitted that if Bahrain-like races persist, "I’m sure that collectively we would look at measures to assist the drivers (to overtake)."

Renault has combined the best of both worlds by adding a ’traffic light’-type pit system to its traditional lollipop. The two lights on the lollipop are controlled by its holder, who presses buttons with his thumb.

Six months after welcoming twin children (Max and Mia) into the world with his new wife Birgit, triple world champion Niki Lauda is now set to be a grandfather, according to the Austrian newspaper Osterreich. His eldest son Lukas’ partner is pregnant, meaning that Max and Mia will soon be a very young uncle and aunt. Lukas Lauda lives in Barcelona and handles the racing career of Niki’s other son, Mathias.