Punished McLaren fastest at Spa

McLaren's Fernando Alonso lapped fastest in free practice for the Belgian Grand Prix yesterday after one of the darkest days in the team's Formula One history.

Stripped of their 2007 constructors' points and fined $100 million by the FIA for a spying scandal at a hearing in Paris on Thursday, the former championship leaders did their talking on the track.

Double world champion Alonso lapped in one minute 46.654 seconds with championship-leading team mate Lewis Hamilton second quickest.

Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finland's Kimi Raikkonen, whose Ferrari team have effectively clinched the constructors' championship with McLaren's elimination, were third and fourth respectively in the afternoon session.

Raikkonen, third in the championship and 18 points adrift of Hamilton, had been quickest in the morning with a lap of 1:47.339.

The Finn will be chasing his third Belgian Grand Prix in a row tomorrow after winning in 2004 and 2005 with McLaren. There was no race at Spa last year due to promotional difficulties, with the circuit having been upgraded in the meantime.

Hamilton, three points ahead of Alonso with four races remaining in a drivers' championship that was not affected by Thursday's verdict, was second in both sessions at the longest circuit on the calendar.

Massa, whose title hopes took a battering when he retired from last weekend's Italian Grand Prix, failed to set a time in the opening session, running off into the gravel at Rivages after just two laps.

The car nudged the tyre barriers and came to a halt. Germany's Adrian Sutil crashed his Spyker in the afternoon.