THE British Grand Prix weekend got off to a dramatic start yesterday as the first official practice session at Silverstone was marred by a sizeable shunt for world championship leader Felipe Massa.
The Ferrari driver had just set the fastest time of the session but lost control of his car at the end of the 180mph Hangar Straight, spinning on oil dropped when the engine failed in Fernando Alonso's Renault just minutes earlier.
The Ferrari pir
ouetted off the track and slammed backwards into a tyre barrier, destroying the rear end of the car. Race control immediately threw the red flag to suspend the session with 33 minutes remaining.
Massa extracted himself from the car unaided, but there was an 18-minute delay while the Brazilian's crumpled Ferrari was prised away from the Stowe Corner barrier and marshals cleared away the oil.
Despite playing no further part in the 90-minute session, Massa's time of one minute 19.575 seconds set just before his accident was good enough to top the timesheets.
Heikki Kovalainen pipped McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton into second place right at the death as the top three finished the session separated by just 0.048secs.
Kimi Raikkonen was next up, three tenths of a second off the pace of his Ferrari team-mate, while Robert Kubica was a further four tenths in arrears in fifth.
Alonso was looking good in the Renault before his engine let go, posting a time good enough for sixth place despite managing just seven laps, while Sebastian Vettel continued his impressive form for Toro Rosso with seventh.
Nelson Piquet was eighth for Renault, while Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard, preparing for his last British Grand Prix after confirming yesterday he will retire at the end of the season, was ninth ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Williams.
Jenson Button was down the order in 17th place for Honda after managing a best time of 1:21.901 from seven laps, while the Briton's team-mate Rubens Barrichello brought up the rear of the field after setting just four laps, the best of which was over four and a half seconds slower than Massa's benchmark.
In the afternoon session, Kovalainen was the only driver to duck under the one minute 20 second barrier with a lap of 1min 19.989secs, which was four tenths slower than the overall fastest time set by Massa in the morning.
Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber took second place for the session, half a second slower than the Finn, while Hamilton popped up into third place with a late 1:20.543 effort.
Reigning world champion Raikkonen was subdued in the second Ferrari, comfortably off the pace of both McLarens and his team-mate on both light and heavy fuel runs.
The Finn's best time in the second session was 1:21.275, three tenths slower than Massa who completed significantly fewer laps than his team-mate following his accident.
The full article contains 499 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
