Hamilton heads Massa in practice

Lewis Hamilton got his Chinese Grand Prix weekend off to a perfect start with the fastest time in practice.

The Englishman clocked one minute 35.630 seconds in the first session to beat his main title rival, Ferrari's Felipe Massa, by 0.390secs.

Hamilton was fastest again in the slower second session, with the Brazilian in sixth place.

The third man in title contention, BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, was fifth and 12th in the two sessions.

Fernando Alonso - the winner of the last two races, who has made it clear he would rather Kubica or Massa won the title than Hamilton - was second fastest in the afternoon in his Renault.

Hamilton leads Massa by five points heading into this penultimate race, with Kubica a further seven adrift.

The 23-year-old Hamilton can win the title on Sunday in one of several scenarios - if he wins, with Massa lower than fourth; if he is second, with Massa lower than sixth; and if he is third, with Massa out of the points, as long as Kubica does not win.

Hamilton insists he has put behind him the first-corner error that led to him scoring no points at the Japanese Grand Prix last Sunday.

But his driving has come in for criticism from some of his fellow racers, who believe he sometimes moves around dangerously while braking.

"The first corner in Fuji was pretty wild," said Mark Webber, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association.

"Lewis was having a crack, but if someone had been sitting on his right rear when he pulled out then that was a crash.


"There was also no way he was going to make the first corner, and whilst it is not illegal to out-brake yourself, we want to have a bit of a chat about moving around in the braking areas.

"If any guy moves two or three metres left or right then you have contact and you have tethers (on the wheels) going off, so that is what we want a chat about."

"I am not smashing Hamilton but it is about how you move on. Tiger Woods learns. Roger Federer learns. And Lewis is going through that.

"We lost a marshal at Monza [in 2000] when there were guys moving around in the braking areas and it is very hard to change your line if you don't know what is going to come. That is the only thing that we need to look at.

"He is a phenomenal talent, but his respected colleagues are sometimes saying: 'Mate, it doesn't need to be like that all the time.'"

Kubica, who crashed heavily in Canada last year and had questioned the safety of Hamilton's driving in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in September, has clarified his position in China.

"When one driver is overtaking another one and crossing his line just in front of his wheels, it's quite dangerous, especially if someone behind has to lift off," he said.

"I have been involved in an accident in a similar situation in Canada and I know what it means when a front wheel hits a rear wheel and from my point of view it's quite dangerous.

"I just say this: while nothing happens everything is fine but if something happens then I think everyone will realise. That's all."

Toyota's Jarno Trulli, another GPDA director, said he would bring up another incident from the Fuji race at the drivers' briefing with race director Charlie Whiting later on Friday.

The Italian said Hamilton had held him up while he was trying to lap him during the race.

"Lewis did not even watch the mirrors because he came back on the track right in front of me and he held me up for two laps," said Trulli.

"I will go in the drivers' briefing (on Friday) and I will say to (race director) Charlie (Whiting), this is what happened and I believe Lewis could have handled it in a different way because it was not fair."



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First practice times from Chinese Grand Prix:

1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes one minute 35.630
2. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:36.020
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:36.052
4. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.103
5. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:36.507
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:36.661
7. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:37.040
8. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.070
9. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault 1:37.180
10. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.278
11. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:37.491
12. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:37.619
13. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:37.630
14. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:37.638
15. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:37.638
16. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:37.664
17. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:37.827
18. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:38.219
19. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:38.285
20. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:38.479

Second practice times:

1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes one minute 35.750
2. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:36.024
3. Nelson Piquet Jnr (Brz) Renault 1:36.094
4. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:36.159
5. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:36.375
6. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:36.480
7. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.529
8. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:36.542
9. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW-Sauber 1:36.553
10. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:36.556
11. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:36.615
12. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW-Sauber 1:36.775
13. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.797
14. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:36.808
15. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.925
16. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:36.975
17. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:37.473
18. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:37.617
19. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:37.800
20. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:37.904