Alonso Quickest in Friday Morning Testing

Renault's Fernando Alonso headed the times in the Malaysian Grand Prix's opening Friday morning test session, his best lap time of 1:37.693 seconds was just enough to keep him out of reach from Jordan-Ford's late-charging Giancarlo Fisichella.

The session began in comical fashion as Jaguar drivers Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia took to an escape road together thinking it was the pitlane entry as they completed their reconnaissance lap.

Both rejoined the circuit - Webber reversing onto it, Pizzonia after a spin-turn - just at the entry to the final corner before embarrassingly making for the pitlane.

During the first 45 minutes, the track remained damp following the previous evening's thunderstorms. Only the three Renault drivers - Jarno Trulli, Alonso and Allan McNish - completed any serious running as they assessed how their slick Michelin tyres coped with the slippery conditions.

It was in similar conditions that the opening laps of Australia's Grand Prix was staged in Melbourne a fortnight ago and, with the possibility of sudden rain during the Malaysian race - the region is renowned for its thunderstroms - the team's decision to run with slicks on a drying track could turn out to be a wise move.

The Renaults, looking stable all around the circuit, took turns to lead the timesheets, with Alonso coming out in front of team-mate Trulli and the team's test driver McNish.

The session had looked set with Renaults first, second and third fastest until Italian Fisichella set a lap time just 0.122 seconds slower than Alonso to wind up second fastest.

Fisichella's British teammate Ralph Firman was fifth fastest, ahead of Pizzonia, the European Minardi-Cosworths of Dutchman Jos Verstappen and Briton Justin Wilson, and Webber.

Jaguar suffered a poor start to the weekend. Brazilian Pizzonia went off the track twice briefly and ended the session over three seconds off the pace. Team-mate Webber, of Australia, completed only eight laps.

The Australian ran during the earlier, slower conditions, but then spent over an hour in the pitlane as his mechanics cured a fault with his car. He eventually rejoined the circuit 20 minutes before the end of the session only to spin off the track entering turn 14 on his first quick lap.

Pos. Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Renault (M) 1:37.693 40 2. Fisichella Jordan-Ford (B) 1:37.815 + 0.122 29 3. Trulli Renault (M) 1:37.851 + 0.158 41 4. McNish Renault (M) 1:38.851 + 1.158 36 5. Firman Jordan-Ford (B) 1:40.296 + 2.603 20 6. Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:40.784 + 3.091 33 7. Verstappen Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:40.923 + 3.230 19 8. Wilson Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:41.929 + 4.236 23 9. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:49.907 + 12.214 8 All timing unofficial