Formula One news

De la Rosa dominant in first practice

McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa was dominant in first practice at Shanghai this morning setting a lap of 1m33.463s - almost two seconds faster than the next driver Rubens Barrichello. Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta was third fastest.

It was quite humid and a bit hazey for the start of practice but warm with air temperature reaching 23 degrees Centigrade.

It was a positive session for McLaren and bodes well for their championship hopes as Raikkonen and Montoya finished fourth and sixth fastest - behind the stunning leading pace of de la Rosa. Championship rivals Renault had a tougher day. Alonso finished seventh fastest but Fisichella added to his misery of late by losing control of his car in turn two just fifteen minutes from the end of the session. He avoided contact with barriers, but ended up beached in the gravel trap.

Other cars to note are those of Ferrari which seem to be on a reasonable pace here with Barrichello second and Michael Schumacher fifth. Mark Webber kept his Williams in the top eight while Coulthard finished just behind him in ninth.

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