Formula One: Ferrari's Felipe Massa set the pace in first free practice for the French Grand Prix today with a time inside the circuit's race lap record.
The Brazilian, who started on pole position at Magny-Cours last year but has yet to win in France, lapped with a fastest time of one minute 15.306 seconds on a grey and overcast morning.
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who will be penalised 10 places on the starting grid for Sunday's race after a pit lane collision with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Canada, was second 0.696 slower.
The time compared to Massa's 2007 pole of 1:15.034 and retired Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher's 2004 race lap record of 1:15.377.
BMW Sauber's championship leader Robert Kubica, winner in Canada, was fifth quickest.
The Pole leads Hamilton and Massa, who have both won twice this season, by four points with world champion Raikkonen a further three adrift after seven rounds of the 18-race championship.
However Kubica could struggle to match the pace of the Ferraris this weekend. The Italian team have won for the past two seasons at Magny-Cours and seven times in the last 11 years. Raikkonen led Massa in a one-two finish in 2007.
Finland's Heikki Kovalainen was third fastest in this morning session for McLaren, with compatriot Raikkonen fourth.
Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso was sixth but pulled over with two minutes remaining with smoke billowing from the engine.
Kovalainen also had a narrow escape when he ran wide onto the gravel on his last lap but managed to steer the car clear of the looming concrete wall.
France's only Formula One driver Sebastien Bourdais, in a Toro Rosso, was 16th fastest while German team mate Sebastian Vettel was eighth.