David Coulthard completed just five laps in his Red Bull before his Renault engine began smoking in the pitlane.
The Austrian team, meanwhile, only passed its mandatory frontal crash test at the eleventh hour, and it also emerged that Honda had a close call when it passed the front and rear FIA tests for its RA108 just days ago.
The cause of the black flag was a spin and stalled engine for Renault rookie Nelson Piquet, in turn 13.
Force India intends to debut a quick-shift gearbox around the time of the British grand prix in July, it emerged on Friday morning.
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Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima both reported gearbox problems with their Toyota-powered Williams cars.
Rosberg did not set a lap time at all, and Japanese rookie Nakajima was the slowest in the field.
Renault rookie Nelson Piquet brought out the red flags when his R28 was stranded on the racing line. BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld also broke down.
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Arguably the hottest rumour on the eve of the 2008 season in Melbourne is that BMW Sauber sandbagged its way through the winter test period.
Correspondents in the Australian city for authoritative European publications including Blick, Bild and Auto Motor und Sport claim that the Hinwil built F1.08 could even be a match for Ferrari and McLaren this year.
The publications say Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica conducted nearly no winter testing alongside their key rivals with low levels of fuel on board.
At Valencia for an exclusive session last month, meanwhile, it emerges that BMW Sauber released only partial lap-time data.
For instance, Auto Motor und Sport reveals that BMW's secret qualifying simulations at Valencia show that Heidfeld and Kubica logged several laps that were quicker than Heikki Kovalainen's best time set at the end of January.
The Swiss newspaper Blick asked technical director Willy Rampf if BMW sandbagged and concealed in winter tests.
"No comment," he answered, before coyly stating "we will see" when asked if the F1.08 might be in the hunt for pole position on Saturday.
Team boss Mario Theissen, however, told reporters on Thursday that BMW's victory target might have to wait until later this year.
"If you ask me about that, I would say we are not there yet," he said.
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