On-song Massa suffers crash

The British Grand Prix weekend got off to a dramatic start on Friday as the first official practice session at Silverstone was marred by a sizeable shunt for world championship leader Felipe Massa.

The Ferrari driver had just set the fastest time of the session but lost control of his car at the end of the 180mph Hangar Straight, spinning on oil dropped when the engine failed in Fernando Alonso's Renault just minutes earlier.

The Ferrari scrubbed off little speed as it pirouetted off the track and slammed backwards into a tyre barrier, destroying the rear end of the car. Race control immediately threw the red flag to suspend the session with 33 minutes remaining.

Massa extracted himself from the car unaided but there was an 18-minute delay while the Brazilian's crumpled Ferrari was prised away from the Stowe Corner barrier and marshals cleared away the oil deposited by Alonso's stricken Renault.

Despite playing no further part in the 90-minute session, Massa's time of one minute 19.575 seconds set just before his accident was good enough to top the timesheets.

Heikki Kovalainen pipped McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton into second place right at the death as the top three finished the session separated by just 0.048secs.

Kimi Raikkonen was next up, three tenths of a second off the pace of his Ferrari team-mate, while Robert Kubica was a further four tenths in arrears in fifth.

Alonso was looking good in the Renault before his engine let go, posting a time good enough for sixth place despite managing just seven laps, while Sebastian Vettel continued his impressive form for Toro Rosso with seventh.

Nelson Piquet was eighth for Renault, while Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard, preparing for his last British Grand Prix after confirming yesterday he will retire at the end of the season, was ninth ahead of Nico Rosberg in the Williams.

Australia's Mark Webber posted the 11th fastest time.

British Grand Prix first practice session:
1 Felipe Massa 1:19.575
2 Heikki Kovalainen 1:19.587
3 Lewis Hamilton 1:19.623
4 Kimi Räikkönen 1:19.948
5 Robert Kubica 1:20.367
6 Fernando Alonso 1:20.436
7 Sebastian Vettel 1:20.588
8 Nelsinho Piquet 1:20.653
9 David Coulthard 1:20.698
10 Nico Rosberg 1:20.744
11Mark Webber 1:20.892