De la Rosa fastest in first practice

McLaren driver Pedro de la Rosa has repeated his Suzuka performance by opping the timesheets in Shanghai in first practice with a lap of 1:33.463. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was 2nd. It's the last Friday for the Brazilian in his red Ferrari racesuit.

The Spaniard finished 1.8 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, who on a slightly damp track was the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello. Third place went to Toyota’s Ricardo Zonta, with Kimi Raikkonen fourth, Michael Schumacher fifth and Juan Pablo Montoya sixth.

Today’s first practice session was held amidst thin but ever-present fog around the track. With high levels of humidity in the midst, and light spots of rain in the latter half of the session, conditions were never at an optimum, and caught a number of drivers out.

Felipe Massa and Renault F1 Team driver Giancarlo Fisichella were the only drivers to come to any real grief in the hour-long session. Massa spun harmlessly, but Fisichella was more unlucky, spinning into the gravel on the entry to Turn 3, in the midst of the tricky tightening first corners of the circuit. He would eventually finish the session with the 16th fastest time.

Fernando meanwhile finished practice in seventh place, 2.1 seconds off de la Rosa, but more importantly, just 0.1 seconds behind Raikkonen. Webber, Coulthard and Button rounded out the top ten. With conditions expected to improve in time for the second practice session this afternoon, the line-up is sure to change around. But as one has come to expect from these practice sessions, it is McLaren who has the out and out pace, as the Renault F1 Team play it cool, waiting to pounce from close by.