Massa quickest in practice 1 - Bahrain

Felipe Massa led teammate Kimi Raikkonen in a Ferrari one-two in the first free practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Williams` Nico Rosberg took third with a late qualifying-style run, ahead of McLaren`s Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen.

The leading teams stayed in the pits for the first 35 minutes to allow others to clean the dusty track. Massa was the first major contender to set a time, and his 1:33.047 immediately outpaced early benchmark Jarno Trulli (Toyota) by half a second.

The Brazilian was swiftly beaten by Hamilton`s 1:32.705, but both Ferraris stayed out and returned to the top later in their long runs. Massa regained first position with a 1:32.400, and although he was briefly usurped by teammate Raikkonen`s 1:32.356, the Brazilian then produced a 1:32.233 to reclaim the top spot.

Raikkonen had to curtail his first run after sliding off the road at the final corner. The world champion took a detour across the very dusty run-off and had to pit to check for damage and for the accumulated dust to be cleaned out.

Unusually, the leading teams did not improve on their times on their subsequent outings, with Massa and Raikkonen staying first and second throughout the final 40 minutes.

The only change amongst the top five was Rosberg`s late jump to third with a 1:32.415 lap. His teammate Kazuki Nakajima took sixth on the softer Bridgestones, behind Hamilton and Kovalainen.

Robert Kubica had been fifth for BMW for most of the morning, but was pushed back to seventh when the Williams duo vaulted up the order.

Trulli, Red Bull`s David Coulthard and Renault driver Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:32.233 20
2. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:32.350 + 0.117 15
3. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:32.415 + 0.182 23
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:32.705 + 0.472 21
5. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:32.868 + 0.635 20
6. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:33.121 + 0.888 24
7. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:33.333 + 1.100 16
8. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:33.539 + 1.306 27
9. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:33.788 + 1.555 20
10. Alonso Renault (B) 1:33.815 + 1.582 19
11. Glock Toyota (B) 1:33.929 + 1.696 28
12. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:33.950 + 1.717 20
13. Piquet Renault (B) 1:33.981 + 1.748 24
14. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:34.106 + 1.873 17
15. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:34.235 + 2.002 27
16. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:34.321 + 2.088 32
17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:34.892 + 2.659 20
18. Button Honda (B) 1:34.915 + 2.682 16
19. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:35.174 + 2.941 12
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:35.429 + 3.196 22
21. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:36.145 + 3.912 6
22. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:36.536 + 4.303 6

4.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Massa    ▪ www.autosport.com