McLaren upbeat after strong start

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton set the quickest time of the day in the afternoon, lapping the Fuji circuit in 1:18.734 to finish over two tenths of a second ahead of teammate Fernando Alonso, two points behind in the standings.

Rivals Ferrari were unable to match McLaren's pace in the second session, with Felipe Massa over seven tenths behind and Kimi Raikkonen nearly a whole second slower than Hamilton.

"With only three races to go the entire team knows how important it is for us to leave Japan with a strong points tally," said team boss Ron Dennis.

"Today's practice sessions bode well for the rest of the weekend. We experienced no problems, and due to strong simulation work back at base we arrived with a competitive set-up on which we will continue to build in tomorrow's practice."

Hamilton was pleased with his first day of work after a solid start.

"It's obviously always a challenge to get to know a new track, but I have tried that three times this year already," said Hamilton. "The engineers and I walked the circuit yesterday, and I was really looking forward to getting in the car this morning. I stayed on the same set of tyres in the first session - just to get a feel for the layout.

"The grip levels increased throughout, but the challenge is when you don't have a real idea of when the levels will stabilise. I experienced no problems and we found a good basis and made continuous progress. In the second session we focused on some longer runs and everything seems to be going in the right direction."

Alonso added: "I walked the circuit with my engineers on Wednesday which always gives you an initial idea, but today was when the fun started. The track is very challenging but initially it was very dusty and the grip levels were low. In the first session I mainly focused on familiarisation and stayed on the same set of tyres throughout.

"The second session was when the work really began with tyre comparisons and set-up work. So far so good and we experienced no problems. Both tyre options seem to be working well, and I am looking forward to a competitive weekend."