Ferrari dominate Turkish practice

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa gave Ferrari a major boost by recording the best times in the opening practice for the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso and championship leader Lewis Hamilton, came next, as they returned to the track after clear the air talks on Thursday.

McLaren said in a statement on Friday that the two drivers, who had a very public falling out at the previous race in Hungary, had met in Istanbul on Thursday and found a "constructive way forward".

McLaren said:"The drivers clearly understand the team's approach of providing them, to the best of our ability, with equality and the same opportunity of winning.

"We discussed the events of Hungary with both drivers independently yesterday, following which Fernando and Lewis met in the hotel and found a constructive way forward.

"We are now turning our full attention to the Turkish Grand Prix and the rest of the season," the statement concluded.

Team chief Ron Dennis said: "I've spoken to both of them independently and we were pretty clear. We run our team in a certain way and expect from every member of the team certain behavior -- and the behaviour we expect is not the exclusive domain of drivers.

"They subsequently spoke, have an understanding between themselves, and are completely communicating. Neither has a problem with the other.

"Clearly they are very competitive individuals and for the balance of the season that competitiveness will stay on the circuit. That's our objective.

"From a team perspective, we will rigidly stick to equality. Sometimes it's difficult to achieve..."

Hamilton, the 22-year-old rookie sensation of the season, leads Spaniard Alonso by seven points in the championship with six races remaining.

The Briton won in Hungary after Alonso was stripped of pole position and demoted five places on the starting grid for impeding him in qualifying after Hamilton ignored team instructions.

Stewards also punished McLaren by barring them from scoring constructors' points, costing them 15 and allowing Ferrari to cut the gap at the top to 19. The Mercedes-powered team are appealing the decision.

Raikkonen clocked a best time of one minute 27.988 seconds on the 5.3-km track which is staging its third Grand Prix.

The Swiss-based driver, 27, finished 0.4 seconds ahead of Brazilian team-mate Massa as Ferrari dominated the 90-minute session.

Raikkonen is third in the world championship, but 20 points behind Hamilton with just six races remaining this year.

Hamilton, slowed by an oil leak, finished fourth-fastest in his first outing as an F1 driver on the overtaking-friendly track, but he was still almost 1.3 seconds off Raikkonen's pace.

Alonso, who will be competing in his 100th grand prix on Sunday, bagged third place late in the session.

Renault's Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen was fifth fastest just ahead of Germany's Nico Rosberg in a Williams.

Red Bull's David Coulthard was sent spinning at the end of the session when his Renault engine blew before bursting into flames. E-mail to a friend