Raikkonen top in Brazil

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was quickest in opening practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Hamilton fifth quickest at Interlagos - Alonso fails to set time

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen drew first blood in the three-way fight for this year's world championship in Brazil on Friday morning. The Finn, who faces a tough task in making up the seven points to championship leader Lewis Hamilton at the Interlagos circuit on Sunday, got his preparations off to the best of starts. Raikkonen was fastest in Friday's first practice session - held in wet conditions - with team-mate Felipe Massa right behind him on the timesheet. However, Raikkonen's McLaren-Mercedes rivals struggled, with Hamilton only fifth quickest and Fernando Alonso failing to set a time. Williams debutant Kazuki Nakajima was the first driver out on track, spending the better part of 15 minutes lapping alone before he was joined by Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Spyker's Adrian Sutil. A few clean laps from Trulli and Sutil in the wet conditions prompted others to venture out, with Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel and Sutil the initial combatants for the P1 slot. But the duo lost out to Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello, the Honda man impressing his fans by moving to the top of the timesheets. However, soon-to-be-ex-Toyota driver Ralf Schumacher, who could be racing for his F1 life this weekend, quickly took the position away from Barrichello. Barrichello fought back only to have Schumacher knock him down once more. Red Bull's Mark Webber and Trulli also bumped the Honda driver down the order while Honda's Jenson Button, Super Aguri's Takuma Sato and Renault's Heikki Kovalainen slotted in behind him, Williams driver Nico Rosberg completing the top eight at the hour mark.

Slow start

With twenty minutes left on the clock the first of the front runners appeared as championship leader Hamilton made his way out on to the track. His first lap, however, left him only 15th fastest - with only Spyker's Sakon Yamamoto slower. Meanwhile, Rosberg shot to the top of timesheets, only to then lose the position to Schumacher as the latter continued to impress. But Rosberg then set the fastest time in sectors one and two on his way to the P1 slot with a time of 1:21.064s. Massa was the next big gun out and he immediately shot up to fifth place, before moving up to P3 on his very next lap, just 0.285s off Rosberg's best. Two laps later and Ferrari's Brazilian driver was quickest after clocking a 1:20.370s effort.

Improvement

Raikkonen then headed out for his first run, going 11th fastest on his first timed lap. His second lap saw the Finn improve to second place, seven tenths off Massa's lap time. However, as the clock counted down the final seconds of the session Raikkonen put in an impressive lap to move into the P1 slot by 0.482s over Massa. Kovalainen and Rosberg ended up third and fourth quickest, with Hamilton improving to take fifth place. Alonso, however, remained one of four drivers alongside Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica and Giancarlo Fisichella in failing to set a time. Brazilian Grand Prix, Friday practice (session one): 01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:19.580 9 laps
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:20.062 10 laps
03 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:20.829 19 laps
04 N. Rosberg Williams 1:21.064 14 laps
05 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:21.121 10 laps
06 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:21.243 22 laps
07 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.598 22 laps
08 M. Webber Red Bull 1:22.104 12 laps
09 J. Trulli Toyota 1:22.104 26 laps
10 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.250 17 laps
11 R. Barrichello Honda 1:22.434 23 laps
12 J. Button Honda 1:22.477 22 laps
13 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:22.667 16 laps
14 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:22.929 19 laps
15 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:23.248 30 laps
16 K. Nakajima Williams 1:23.261 26 laps
17 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:23.551 20 laps
18 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:24.366 25 laps
19 N. Heidfeld BMW no time 1 laps
20 R. Kubica BMW no time 1 laps
21 F. Alonso McLaren no time 1 laps
22 G. Fisichella Renault no time 2 laps
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