Spending time testing in Bahrain in February seems to have paid off for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, as its two drivers topped today's time sheet, with last year's Bahrain winner, Felipe Massa (above) ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.

Spending time testing in Bahrain in February seems to have paid off for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, as its two drivers topped today's time sheet, with last year's Bahrain winner, Felipe Massa ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. However, it is possible that the performance of the F2008 on this desert track simply reflects its current level, as the only other team to have taken part in the winter test, Toyota, has both its cars down in 14th and 15th places.

The Ferrari duo were also quickest, in the same order in the morning, when the Brazilian completed 20 laps and the Finn 15. This afternoon, they both did a further 30 laps. Yesterday, as the official Safety Cars went around the circuit, clouds of dust were thrown up by their wheels, but since then, organisers had done a good job of cleaning the track, helped by plenty of action from other race categories, so that the surface was not as dirty as expected, although still leaving quite a bit of dust on what is a "green" track surface, as it sees so little running during the year.

Behind the Prancing Horse duo came the Silver Arrow duo in the shape of the McLaren-Mercedes of Heikki Kovalainen third and Lewis Hamilton fourth. However, the Englishman's day had a setback, as he lost control of his car running wide over a kerb, before hitting the barrier and damaging his car. In fifth spot was the Malaysian GP runner-up Robert Kubica in his Sauber-BMW, while the top six was rounded off by Nico Rosberg in the Williams-Toyota.

The Bahrain circuit is proving to be a very pleasant venue this weekend, as the very hot weather that had been expected has not materialised and enjoyable mid-twenties temperatures and a cooling dry breeze are the order of the day so far. However, in this desert environment, the situation can change quickly and the forecast for the next two days suggests that these gentle breezes could become strong winds. This can really complicate the situation, firstly by blowing sand back on the track, secondly by upsetting the aerodynamic balance of the car and thirdly by affecting the choice of gear ratios. However, whatever happens, the conditions are identical for all 22 cars and drivers.

The two Ferraris topped the time sheets in both free practice sessions held today at the Sakhir circuit. Felipe Massa was quickest in the morning and afternoon, with his team-mate, world champion Kimi Raikkonen behind him each time. As usual on a Friday, the programme centred on finding the best set-up and on comparing the two types of Bridgestone tyre on offer in Bahrain.

Stefano Domenicali: "It was a good day, but it's too early to draw any conclusions regarding the final outcome of this weekend. We worked well, without any particular niggles and now we must concentrate on preparation for qualifying and the race."

Felipe Massa: "I am pleased with this first day of free practice. Right from the start this morning, I found some good settings for the car and then, in the afternoon, the track conditions improved considerably. I think we are working in the right direction in terms of setting up the car and so I feel confident about the rest of the weekend. I like this track and think we will be very competitive. The wind is expected to be stronger tomorrow and on Sunday and that would make driving more difficult, but on the plus side, there will be more grip."

Kimi Raikkonen: "All in all, I am happy with the way things went this morning and even more so with the afternoon. We tried various different set-ups, starting off with the settings we defined when testing here in February. We picked up a lot of data to work with for qualifying and the race. The car is going well and I think we will be competitive even if it is always difficult to say where we are compared to the others. The performance of both types of tyre is reasonably similar."

Luca Baldisserri: "Track conditions this morning were rather difficult, because of all the sand blown onto the track by the strong winds that we had here over the past few days. In the afternoon, as the cars did more and more laps, the situation improved. We got through all our programme, working on finding the best set-up and on the comparison of the two types of tyre available to us. I reckon we can be satisfied with what we achieved in both these areas. Being able to refer to our February tests was definitely useful, but we have to bear in mind that the weather is different."

Free practice - First session

F.Massa: 1st 1.32.233 20 laps chassis 267
K.Raikkonen: 2nd 1.32.350 15 laps chassis 268
Weather: air temperature 28/30 °C, track temperature 35/39 °C, hazy skies.

Free Practice - Second session

F.Massa: 1st 1.31.420 30 laps chassis 267
K.Raikkonen: 2nd 1.32.327 30 laps chassis 268
Weather: air 32/31 °C, track temperature 44/39 °C, hazy skies.