GP – Free Practice 1: Flawless Superiority of Massa

Felipe Massa with his F2008 was faster in the opening session of the French Grand Prix testing, with seven tenths of a second ahead of his closest competitor.

The McLarens finish second and third with Lewis Hamilton ahead of his teammate Heikki Kovalainen, while Kimi Räikkönen sets the fourth-fastest time.

It took almost half an hour before the session began, with Nico Rosberg’s Williams being the first to hit the tarmac after exactly 26 minutes.

Then, Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) appeared briefly one lap before all the title contenders came onto the track.

Kovalainen and Massa were the first to lead the way for a few minutes, but it was Hamilton who took the top spot on the timesheet with a 1’16”002. He remained in this position until Massa came to dethrone him shortly after the hour of testing.

The Brazilian completed three consecutive laps with a time significantly better than Hamilton’s, setting a 1’15”450. Meanwhile, Hamilton went wide at the Adelaide hairpin and couldn’t improve.

Massa improved by a tenth on his last laps to eventually set a time of 1’15”306.

Kovalainen had the chance to avoid an accident on his last lap in the long Estoril curve. He went into the gravel at high speed and almost hit the concrete wall but managed to control his car.

Räikkönen is ultimately 0.767 seconds slower than Massa. The reigning world champion finishes ahead of the current championship leader, Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber).

Fernando Alonso takes sixth place but had to stop a few minutes before the end of the session due to what appeared to be an engine failure. The R28 came to a halt, emitting white smoke. This incident will have no repercussions on the subsequent events.

Jarno Trulli, who escaped a spin at the Adelaide hairpin, is seventh for Toyota. Vettel, Nick Heidfeld (BMW), and Timo Glock (Toyota) complete the top ten.