Raikkonen kicks off Turkish GP weekend

Kimi Raikkonen laid down the marker in the first practice session for the Turkish Grand Prix, the McLaren man setting a best time of 1:28.315. He was four and a half tenths up on Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in second and Honda's Jenson Button was third fastest. Reigning champion Fernando Alonso did not set a time.

As usual the third drivers were quickly out on track; Giorgio Mondini was on duty for MF1 and he was followed by BMW Sauber new boy Sebastian Vettel. Williams No.3 Alex Wurz was first to set a time, 1:33.163, then Honda third driver Anthony Davidson took over, some two seconds quicker. He then clocked 1:30.642 on his next flyer.

There was a little bit of track action and Davidson improved again to 1:29.959, while Red Bull No.3 Robert Doornbos was also on a flyer but spun then headed back into the pits. Toro Rosso third driver Neel Jani wobbled off track at turn eight and Vettel took second, a tenth off Davidson.

Sakon Yamamoto was the first Super Aguri to clock a time, nearly eight seconds off the pace, and Jarno Trulli the first Toyota to appear. The Ferrari of Michael Schumacher and title rival Fernando Alonso's Renault also went out, then Davidson's charge was halted by what looked like an engine failure. There was a brief yellow flag period while the Honda was cleared.

Felipe Massa's Ferrari was out on track briefly, along with the Honda of Jenson Button, and Michael took over the top of the times, 1:28.777. McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was hot on his heels and posted 1:28.315 for over four tenths up. Wurz was third and Button clocked fourth, with Davidson still fifth and Vettel sixth.

Jani, Doornbos, Mondini and Franck Montagny, back on third driver duty for Super Aguri, completed the top 10. MF1's Tiago Monteiro was 11th and Yamamoto was the last on the time sheet in 12th. In the final five minutes there was a flurry of activity; Button made a late improvement to third and the McLaren of Pedro de la Rosa slotted into sixth.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld followed into seventh and the Honda of Rubens Barrichello managed 11th. Scott Speed's Toro Rosso clocked 13th and the MF1 of Christijan Albers was one behind. Massa eventually managed a lowly 17th and Toro Rosso's Tonio Liuzzi rounded off the times in 19th.

There were not many laps put in aside from the third drivers; Mondini had the most with 28 and Yamamoto the most of the race drivers with 11. Final top eight classification: Raikkonen, M. Schumacher, Button, Wurz, Davidson, de la Rosa, Heidfeld, Vettel.