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Ferrari fastest in practice for the French Grand Prix

Brazilian Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Ferrari watches practice in the pit at the Magny Cours race track near Nevers, France, on Friday. PHOTO: EPA

Ferrari is looking to turn things around after being dominated by McLaren.

Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa swapped the top two positions in the free practice sessions on Friday for the French Grand Prix. Ferrari has won six times at Magny Cours since 1997.

Raikkonen timed 1 minute, 15.382 seconds on the 4.41km circuit to be fastest in the first practice, followed by Massa in 1 minute 15.447 seconds.

Then in the afternoon, Massa clocked 1 minute 15.453 seconds and Raikkonen 1 minute 15.488 seconds to fill the first two spots.

"The car went well right from the morning, but there is still room for improvement," Raikkonen said. "However, as usual it is hard to say what the real pecking order is in the field. I would say that this was quite a positive day."

Massa was content, too.

"Today we were quick," he said. "I think the work which culminated in the test session at Silverstone is beginning to produce results."

Ferrari hopes to take its speed through the weekend's race and into the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next week.

Two-time defending world champion Fernando Alonso was third in the morning for McLaren, while teammate Lewis Hamilton was sixth after his first technical failure in his rookie Formula One season.

Hamilton, who won the last two races, first clocked 1 minute 16.277 seconds. Early in the session, he pulled over when his engine cut out before it overheated as a precaution. After a quick adjustment, he was driving again.

"This morning was frustrating as I missed some time when the engine protection system came in," Hamilton said. "Luckily the car was returned with about 45 minutes of the session to run, so I still managed to get quite a few laps in and completed our planned program in the afternoon session."

In the afternoon, Hamilton was fourth in 1 minute 15.780 seconds and Alonso was eighth in 1 minute 16.049 seconds.

"We could have gone faster today and there is still a bit of work to do tomorrow on the setup," Alonso said. "However, I think we will be stronger over the weekend than we appear today, and so I am not too worried about the results so far."

The 22-year-old Hamilton won in Canada and the US to bring his total number of podium finishes in a row to seven. He has had two wins, four seconds and a third this year.

Hamilton leads the drivers' standings with 58 points, 10 ahead of Alonso and 19 in front of Raikkonen.

McLaren has 12 of a possible 14 podium positions this season to lead the constructors' standings with 106 points. Ferrari is second with 71.

In the morning, Nico Rosberg of Williams was fourth in 1 minute 16.214 seconds with David Coulthard of Red Bull fifth in 1 minute 15.268 seconds. Scott Speed, the only US Formula One driver, was third in the afternoon for Toro Rosso.

Last year, Alonso finished third at the Magny Cours circuit behind the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Massa. Alonso won in 2005.

After winning two races earlier this season, Massa has finished third twice and been disqualified in Canada for running a red light in the pit lane during a caution.

Robert Kubica of BMW-Sauber returned to racing after sitting out the US Grand Prix following a horrific crash. He was ninth in the morning and 12th in the afternoon.

"I am happy to be back in the car, we have to work for tomorrow, but generally the car's balance is not too bad," Kubica said.
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