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Alonso's pace in practice hinted at a profitable weekend for Renault

Fernando Alonso produced a surprise ahead of this weekend's French Grand Prix by posting the best time in the second free practice at Magny-Cours.

The Spaniard, whose Renault has failed to impress this season, recorded the day's second best lap in the afternoon.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa set the day's fastest time in the morning, his time quicker than the record race lap set by Michael Schumacher in 2004.

Lewis Hamilton was fourth fastest with a lap of one minute 16.002 seconds.

The Briton will be penalised 10 places on the starting grid for the race after a pit-lane collision with world champion Kimi Raikkonen's stationary Ferrari in Canada.

However, the 23-year-old is happy with the performance of his McLaren.

"We made a great deal of progress this morning and seemed to get the car dialled in nicely to the circuit," he said.

The Briton recorded his best time in morning practice and, with most cars running on a heavier fuel load in the afternoon, he was unable to challenge a resurgent Alonso.

606: DEBATE Great to see Alonso there. But it's obvious even as an Alonso fan, that they dont have the pace to win a race this year nandowolf27

Alonso had ended the morning in ignominious fashion, trundling off the Circuit de Nevers with a blown engine, though he will not incur a penalty.

In the intervening 150 minutes, Alonso's mechanics ensured the two-time world champion returned to the track with a car to give the team's fans something to cheer and he secured a best lap of 1:15.778.

However, the Spaniard played down his chances in Sunday's race after practice.

"It has been a good day for us, the car performed quite well," said the Spaniard.

"For sure the time is fuel related, if we are quicker than the Ferrari it is a big surprise. We are not that fast probably.

"Mostly, I would like to finish on the podium this year and to win one race if that is possible, but I think it is difficult."

Alonso's quickest lap was 0.4 secs adrift of Massa's morning best, and the Brazilian was second quickest in the afternoon with a lap of 1:15.854, avoiding a scare late on at the long, sweeping right-hand curve of Estoril when he ran wide into the gravel, just missing a wall on exit.

Ferrari team-mate and reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen was third quickest with a time of 1:15.999.

Sebastian Vettel again ran strongly in his Toro Rosso for fifth, with the BMW Sauber of current championship leader Robert Kubica in sixth, followed by McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen.

Kubica, who leads Hamilton and Massa by four points, reported "technical problems".

"The balance of the car was a bit strange and, therefore, it was quite difficult to drive," said the Pole.

Jenson Button appeared to struggle on the 4.411km track in his Honda, finishing 17th in the afternoon to follow up his 18th in the morning.

Hamilton's McLaren team have some decisions to make before the race

Hamilton, meanwhile, must decide on his strategy in the knowledge he will start Sunday's race with a 10-place grid penalty.

McLaren will be determined to limit the damage to his title hopes in a race that is expected to favour rivals Ferrari and while Hamilton has said he is targeting a fourth-place finish as probably his best realistic hope, the team have a number of options.

They could give him a light fuel load for qualifying, to get him as high up the grid as possible, limiting the effect of the penalty, and hope he can pass slower cars early while his car is light.

Alternatively, they could give him a heavier fuel load in qualifying, after which refuelling is not allowed for the fastest 10 qualifiers.

That would mean he could run a longer first stint, with the aim of leapfrogging the cars in front of him with faster laps when they come in for their first stops.

Both have their pros and cons, but either way he will find it difficult to make up ground on a circuit where overtaking is notoriously difficult.

Last year, his then McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso had to start 10th following a gearbox failure in qualifying but, despite his best efforts, including a stunning passing move on BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, the Spaniard managed to climb only to seventh place by the end of the race.

McLaren could attempt to get Kovalainen to control the pace at the front of the race, to ensure that the leaders do not get too far ahead of Hamilton.

But that would require the Finn, who has struggled in the last two races, qualifying on pole position.

That does not look likely, judging by Massa's impressive early pace and by the fact Kovalainen's lap of 1:16.340 was 7th fastest in the afternoon.

French Grand Prix first practice times:

1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari one minute 15.306 seconds
2. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.002
3. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.055
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:16.073
5. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:16.377
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:16.400
7. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:16.758
8. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.838
9. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:16.870
10. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:16.886
11. Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault 1:17.063
12. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:17.234
13. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:17.269
14. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:17.394
15. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:17.491
16. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.683
17. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:17.696
18. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:17.928
19. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:18.072
20. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:18.673

Second practice times:

1. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1min 15.778secs
2. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1:15.854
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:15.999
4. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:16.232
5. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.298
6. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:16.317
7. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:16.340
8. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:16.458
9. Nelson Piquet (Brz) Renault 1:16.543
10. David Coulthard (GB) RedBull-Renault 1:16.572
11. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:16.682
12. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:16.743
13. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.758
14. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams-Toyota 1:17.002
15. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:17.092
16. Mark Webber (Aus) RedBull-Renault 1:17.106
17. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:17.244
18. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:17.394
19. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:17.591
20. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:17.868