Raikkonen fastest in practice 1

The Finn was the first major contender to emerge from the pits after a very quiet start to the session on the dusty track. He immediately went fastest and eventually improved to a 1:28.019 lap that put him eight tenths clear of the field.

Raikkonen then gained another tenth on his final run and achieved a 1:27.988.

While his teammate Felipe Massa steadily closed in before ending the session 0.403 seconds behind Raikkonen, the McLarens had no answer.

Fernando Alonso was as low as seventh for much of the morning, and although he ultimately took third, he was 1.2 seconds slower than Raikkonen.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton ended up in fourth place, but only completed 10 laps before his McLaren developed a slipping clutch and had to spend the rest of the session in the garage. The car will be repaired for the second session, however.

Heikki Kovalainen was the best of the rest for Renault, moving up to fifth in the closing minutes.

Williams' Nico Rosberg completed the top six with another late run.

Both Toyota drivers spun during the session - Jarno Trulli rotating in the final complex early on, and Ralf Schumacher going off at both Turn 1 and Turn 4 on different runs.

In between the incidents, he managed the seventh fastest time, with Trulli behind Giancarlo Fisichella and Nick Heidfeld in 10th.

David Coulthard spun at Turn 1 on his last lap, then had to stop his Red Bull after a dramatic flash fire developed under the car after he had rejoined. It was quickly attended to by the marshals.

Pos  Driver        Team                    Time               Laps
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari            (B)  1:27.988            22
 2.  Massa         Ferrari            (B)  1:28.391  + 0.403   20
 3.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:29.222  + 1.234   20
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes   (B)  1:29.261  + 1.273   10
 5.  Kovalainen    Renault            (B)  1:29.346  + 1.358   19
 6.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:29.403  + 1.415   23
 7.  R.Schumacher  Toyota             (B)  1:29.414  + 1.426   24
 8.  Fisichella    Renault            (B)  1:29.541  + 1.553   19
 9.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber         (B)  1:29.641  + 1.653   20
10.  Trulli        Toyota             (B)  1:29.685  + 1.697   26
11.  Kubica        BMW Sauber         (B)  1:29.710  + 1.722   23
12.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:30.384  + 2.396   17
13.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:30.398  + 2.410   23
14.  Button        Honda              (B)  1:30.483  + 2.495   17
15.  Barrichello   Honda              (B)  1:30.580  + 2.592   25
16.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:30.612  + 2.624   21
17.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda  (B)  1:30.624  + 2.636   15
18.  Wurz          Williams-Toyota    (B)  1:30.876  + 2.888   12
19.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault   (B)  1:30.917  + 2.929   22
20.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B)  1:31.383  + 3.395   22
21.  Sutil         Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:31.445  + 3.457   31
22.  Yamamoto      Spyker-Ferrari     (B)  1:32.270  + 4.282   35