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Raikkonen quickest in Spanish practice

  • Story Highlights
  • World champion Kimi Raikkonen fastest in practice sessions for Spanish GP
  • He led teammate Felipe Massa in morning and Nelson Pique in the afternoon
  • Raikkonen leads the championship standings with 19 points three points clear
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BARCELONA, Spain -- Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari was fastest in both of Friday's practice sessions for the Spanish Grand Prix.

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Raikkonen looks the man to beat at this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

Raikkonen followed up a Ferrari 1-2 finish in the morning session by clocking a best time of one minute, 21.935 seconds from 38 laps around the Circuit de Catalunya track.

The defending world champion, who won here in 2005, was 0.05 seconds faster than Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa in the morning with a time of 1:20.649.

"We did the work we needed to and had no problems, this probably being the most positive thing," Raikkonen said.

"The balance of the car is good, even if there is always room to improve, and its handling was also good on both types of tyres."

Massa is coming off his first win of the season, at the Bahrain GP, while Raikkonen won the previous race in Malaysia. Nelson Piquet Jr. and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso were second and third in the afternoon for Renault.

Piquet Jr. went around in 1:22.019 for the best practice result of his rookie season. Alonso, who won at Barcelona in 2006, was 0.015 seconds behind his Brazilian teammate.

Alonso had arrived at Barcelona frustrated by the team's lack of speed but could be buoyed by the afternoon result at his home race. The Spanish driver emerged from the garage to applaud his cheering fans.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who was third in the morning and has struggled since opening the season with a victory at Melbourne, was 0.750 seconds back for 11th place -- while teammate Heikki Kovalainen, who was fifth in the morning, stalled on the track to cut his afternoon short with a 16th-placed finish.

Raikkonen leads the championship standings with 19 points, three better than Nick Heidfeld of BMW Sauber. Hamilton, Raikkonen and Robert Kubica have 14 points, while Massa has 10.

All teams returned from a brief spring break for the first stop on the 10-race European leg of the Formula One calendar.

Super Aguri tested alongside the other 10 teams on Friday despite arriving in Barcelona at the last moment.

The Japanese outfit has been troubled since a potential buy-out fell through, and is in discussions to secure funding to race this season.

Takuma Sato had the best performance for the team ahead of Anthony Davidson in both sessions, but was nearly five seconds slower than Raikkonen.

Free practice ends with a final third session on Saturday morning before qualifying determines the grid order for Sunday's race. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

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