Massa crashes but is fastest in first session ahead of British GP

Jul 4, 2008, 13:59 GMT

Silverstone, England - Formula One championship leader Felipe Massa crashed his Ferrari but posted the fastest time in the first practice session Friday ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix.

The Brazilian driver ended the session on 1 minute 19.575 seconds, just ahead of McLaren-Mercedes duo Heikki Kovalainen of Finland (1:19.587) and Britain's Lewis Hamilton (1:19.623).

Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen of Finland was fourth fastest, ahead of BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica of Poland, with Spain's Fernando Alonso in a Renault sixth.

Massa's best time came before he crashed into a wall after losing control on an oil-smeared track on the fast Stowe straight.

The rear of the Ferrari was wrecked but Massa was quickly out of the car unscathed. The session was interrupted for about 20 minutes while the damaged Ferrari was hoisted clear and the oil cleared up.

Massa had been helpless to prevent the crash after his Ferrari spun on a film of oil spilled on the track by Alonso's Renault and went backwards into a protective wall of tyres.

McLaren chief Ron Dennis told German's Premiere television: 'The oil flags came out. We told our drivers to be careful but I don't know if Ferrari knew.'

Massa, winner of the last GP in France, goes into Sunday's race on 48 points, two ahead of Kubica, five ahead of Raikkonen, with Hamilton 10 points adrift.

A second practice session was due to be held in the afternoon, before qualifying on Saturday determines grid positions.