BBC Sportmotorsport

By Andrew Benson BBC Sport at Silverstone

Massa's car is lifted away from the track following his smash at Stowe

World title rivals McLaren and Ferrari shared the honours in practice at the British Grand Prix on Friday.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa was fastest in the morning session despite crashing at high speed while Heikki Kovalainen set the pace in the afternoon for McLaren.

Kovalainen's team-mate Lewis Hamilton, aiming to get his title challenge back on track after failing to score for two races, finished third in both sessions.

World champion Kimi Raikkonen had a subdued day in the second Ferrari.

The Finn was fourth fastest in the morning and only 12th in the second session.

Nevertheless, the Ferraris and McLarens appeared to be evenly matched - their times in the first session, which tends to be more representative of true form than the one in the afternoon, were very close.

Massa set the fastest lap of the day in the morning - but at one minute 19.575 seconds he was just 0.012secs quicker than Kovalainen, who in turn was just 0.036secs ahead of Hamilton.

I feel we've got a good benchmark for the weekend Lewis Hamilton

The Brazilian lost control at close to 180mph on oil laid down by Fernando Alonso's Renault at the end of Hangar Straight.

As things stand, it is difficult to pick a favourite for the race - the McLarens are quicker in the high-speed first half of the lap, but the Ferrari more than cancelled out that advantage in the slower corners later on.

Equally, the weather forecast predicts rain for Sunday afternoon.

Still, Hamilton at least will be hoping the support of a partisan home crowd can push him on: "It was good to see so many fans at the circuit so early this morning."

And the 22-year-old added: "Although we only tested here last week, the track felt quite different today. The car's balance felt very good, despite my having a little grassy moment at turn eight.

"Into the afternoon, the car felt increasingly consistent, and I feel we've got a good benchmark for the weekend ahead."

As Red Bull driver Mark Webber predicted in his BBC Sport column this week, the two main title contenders are some way ahead of the other teams.

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Alonso was sixth quickest in his Renault despite missing half the session following what looked like an engine failure.

The double world champion quickly pulled off after a puff of smoke betrayed the problem along the Hangar Straight, but he was unable to prevent his car laying a slick of oil on the track.

That first caught out Timo Glock, whose Toyota slithered wide before the German managed to regain control.

Massa was not so lucky. His Ferrari snapped sideways as he started to brake from more than 180mph and he spun sideways into the barriers.

In the afternoon, Webber was second fastest, with Hamilton splitting him from his team-mate David Coulthard, who was fourth fastest a day after announcing that he would retire at the end of the season.

Jarno Trulli became another casualty of Stowe corner when his Toyota shed its rear wing during the afternoon session, and spun into the barriers.

British GP first practice:

1. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1mins 19.575secs
2. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.587
3. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:19.623
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:19.948
5. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:20.367
6. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:20.436
7. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.588
8. Nelson Piquet (Bral) Renault 1:20.653
9. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.698
10. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:20.744
11. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.892
12. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:21.102
13. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.107
14. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:21.166
15. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:21.265
16. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams-Toyota 1:21.282
17. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:21.901
18. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:22.169
19. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:22.219
20. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:24.123

Second practice:

1. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1min 19.989secs
2. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.520
3. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:20.543
4. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:20.589
5. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:20.748
6. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:20.805
7. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:20.929
8. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:20.943
9. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams-Toyota 1:20.985
10. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:21.002
11. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:21.023
12. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:21.275
13. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:21.453
14. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:21.472
15. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:21.511
16. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:21.520
17. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:21.634
18. Nelson Piquet (Bra) Renault 1:21.642
19. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:21.756
20. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:22.196