Hamilton bullish after strong start

The McLaren driver, leading Felipe Massa by seven points ahead of the Fuji race, finished as third fastest after a trouble-free day at the Japanese track.

"Fuji is a place I really enjoy: it's not the easiest of tracks because it requires a good set-up to get the best from the car, but I had no complaints today," said Hamilton, winner of the race last year.

"We were immediately on the pace and found a very good balance straight away. In the afternoon, I did a promising longer run with no major problems and I feel confident about our pace for the rest of the weekend."

Teammate Heikki Kovalainen also had a good start to the weekend, although the Finn finished down in ninth place.

Kovalainen played down the significance of today's times, however.

"Today was a pretty straightforward practice day with no major problems," said the Finn. "We successfully went through our tyre comparison programme, which went well.

"We made some good progress with the set-up into the afternoon and that also made me feel a lot more confident about attacking this place. I don't think today's times are totally representative, but we're certainly in good shape for the rest of the weekend."