Ferrari dominate first free practice at Spa

Ferrari dominated first free practice at the Belgian Grand Prix this morning, with on-form Brazilian Felipe Massa immediately outpacing team mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Massa, second in the championship after winning the previous European Grand Prix in Valencia, lapped Formula One's longest circuit in one minute 47.284 seconds on a chilly and overcast morning in the Ardennes forests.

World champion Raikkonen, winner of the last three races in Belgium but without a victory since the end of April, was second quickest in 1:47.623.

The daunting high-speed track is the Finn's favourite but he needs to beat Massa this weekend to get back into the reckoning and prevent Ferrari from putting all their weight behind the Brazilian's title challenge.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, the 23-year-old Briton who leads Massa by six points in the standings and Raikkonen by 13 with six races remaining, ended the session third fastest, half a second behind Massa, but ahead of his Finnish team mate Heikki Kovalainen.

In a positive sign for former champions Renault, double world champion Fernando Alonso was fifth ahead of Australian Mark Webber in a Red Bull.

France's Sebastien Bourdais, fighting to keep his place at Toro Rosso next year, was seventh and a place ahead of highly-rated German team mate Sebastian Vettel.

Honda made a nightmare start to the weekend, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello occupying the last two slots on the timesheets and more than three seconds off the pace.