Ferrari's expected domination of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix today began with a one-two in opening practice.
Felipe Massa has been the Formula One force of late, with the Brazilian taking the chequered flag in the European Grand Prix in Valencia 12 days ago.
That should have been back-to-back victories for the Ferrari star, but he was cruelly denied by a blown engine three laps from the finish of the preceding race in Hungary.
After team-mate Kimi Raikkonen suffered from engine trouble in Valencia, Ferrari bosses are naturally hoping they have solved the problem and they will be trouble-free this weekend.
There were certainly no issues during the opening 90-minute session at a Spa track a world removed from the processional Hungaroring and Valencia Street Circuit.
Winding its way through the Ardennes forest for 4.35 miles, Massa was comfortably quickest, setting fastest lap after fastest lap in the closing stages, leaving Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton trailing.
Hamilton may currently hold a six-point cushion over Massa and 13 to Raikkonen, but he can expect that to be cut on Sunday if such a performance is repeated in the race.
The Ferraris have generally performed better in hotter conditions, yet although temperatures were around 15 degrees centigrade cooler than in Budapest and Valencia, Massa was out on his own.
By the close, the 27-year-old's lap of one minute 47.284 seconds was 0.339secs quicker than Raikkonen, with Hamilton 0.594secs adrift.
McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was in close attendance in fourth, with Renault's Fernando Alonso fifth, and the only other driver to finish within a second of Massa.
The Red Bull family occupied the next three places, with Racing's Mark Webber followed by the Toro Rosso duo of Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel.
Toyota's Timo Glock and the second Renault of Nelson Piquet rounded out the top 10, with the latter a staggering 1.784secs behind Massa.
David Coulthard was 15th for Red Bull, with the rear of the field disappointingly brought up by Honda duo Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, both an embarrassing three seconds down.