Ferrari dominated the first practice session for the Magny-Cours race on Friday, with Kimi Raikkonen leading a 1-2 for most of the 90 minute session, leaving Fernando Alonso trailing in third nearly 0.8s off the pace.
Raikkonen set a best time of 1:15.382, morginally faster than Michael Schumacher's pole position time in last year's race, lending credence to the progress reported in last week's Silverstone tests.
Team-mate Felipe Massa was second on 1:15.447 with McLaren's Alonso third on 1:16.154. McLaren appeared to have a difficult session, never coming closer to the top than third. Hamilton stopped on track early in the session but was able to return and traded times with Alonso before falling back to sixth on 1:16.277.
Nico Rosberg (Williams) and David Coulthard (Red Bull) filled fourth and fifth positions. Nick Heidfeld was the best for BMW on 1:16.338, enough for seventh while Robert Kubica made his return from the Montreal accident but was 10th, behind Alexander Wurz in the Williams.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.382 2. Massa Ferrari 1:15.447 3. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.154 4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:16.214 5. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:16.268 6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.277 7. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:16.338 8. Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:16.407 9. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:16.441 10. Trulli Toyota 1:16.603 11. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.895 12. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:16.967 13. Barrichello Honda 1:16.990 14. Button Honda 1:17.047 15. Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.103 16. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.166 17. R.Schumacher Toyota 1:17.168 18. Fisichella Renault 1:17.226 19. Kovalainen Renault 1:17.348 20. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:17.435 21. Albers Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.178 22. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.419
Raikkonen set a best time of 1:15.382, morginally faster than Michael Schumacher's pole position time in last year's race, lending credence to the progress reported in last week's Silverstone tests.
Team-mate Felipe Massa was second on 1:15.447 with McLaren's Alonso third on 1:16.154. McLaren appeared to have a difficult session, never coming closer to the top than third. Hamilton stopped on track early in the session but was able to return and traded times with Alonso before falling back to sixth on 1:16.277.
Nico Rosberg (Williams) and David Coulthard (Red Bull) filled fourth and fifth positions. Nick Heidfeld was the best for BMW on 1:16.338, enough for seventh while Robert Kubica made his return from the Montreal accident but was 10th, behind Alexander Wurz in the Williams.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:15.382 2. Massa Ferrari 1:15.447 3. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.154 4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:16.214 5. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:16.268 6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.277 7. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:16.338 8. Wurz Williams-Toyota 1:16.407 9. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:16.441 10. Trulli Toyota 1:16.603 11. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.895 12. Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:16.967 13. Barrichello Honda 1:16.990 14. Button Honda 1:17.047 15. Speed Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.103 16. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.166 17. R.Schumacher Toyota 1:17.168 18. Fisichella Renault 1:17.226 19. Kovalainen Renault 1:17.348 20. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:17.435 21. Albers Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.178 22. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari 1:18.419