McLaren driver Pedro de la Rosa dominated the practice for the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai international circuit on Friday.

That gave McLaren a psychological advantage over leader Renault in the constructors' championship race before Sunday's season-ending event. Renault lead the standings by two points over McLaren.

De la Rosa was the fastest driver in both sessions of the day, with his best lap one minute 32.834 seconds. Toyota's Ricardo Zonta was second with his fastest time 1:32.977.

Another Mclaren driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland was third in 1:34.092 seconds, over a second slower than de la Rosa, while Juan Pablo Montoya made it three McLarens in the top five with fifth.

De la Rosa said after the practice: "It's a positive day where we completed our planned program. We have a clear idea of which Michelin tyre to choose. I like this circuit and I felt at home already during the installation lap."

Newly-crowned world champion Fernando Alonso was pushing hard but overstepped the mark early in the session when he ran wide.

The Spaniard made another mistake 10 minutes from the end of the session when he ran out of track and skirted through the grass. He hooked up a quick lap later in the session though and took fourth.

Alonso was not satisfied with the day's race, saying: "the car was quite hard to drive today, but I think that is normal on the first day at this circuit, when track conditions are so dirty. It was also very windy out there, which had an impact on the car balance in the high speed corners.

"But we managed to test all the tyres, did some good laps and completed our long runs. I think the conditions will improve tomorrow, and as the grip levels increase then the car balance will improve."

Rubens Barrichello, who won here last year, offered Ferrari encouragement with sixth place while the second Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella was seventh. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was 14th after having his fastest lap 1:35.567.

The German said that it's impossible to have miracle in the season's last race. "Obviously with these last few races all coming in quick succession, there was no reason to expect a big change in our performance level. But I have to say that, after today, I think we look in slightly better shape than we did at the last race."

Jenson Button was back in the car on Friday after suffering from a rival infection and he took eighth place.

The BAR-Honda driver was forced to cancel meetings on Thursday after being struck down with a bug but he returned and promptly ran wide in the second session as he found the limit on the Shanghai international circuit.

Fellow Briton David Coulthard also came a cropper at turn two but the Red Bull was unable to keep his car in a straight line as Button had and he spun backwards across the grass. Coulthard ended up 11th.

Antonio Pizzonia's second practice was a brief one. The Brazilian appeared to lose control and spin but as he limped back to the pits it became clear the rear suspension on his Williams was broken.

Jarno Trulli also saw his session cut short, although he did manage 57 minutes of the hour available. The Italian stopped his Toyota on a disused section of track and was forced to push it aside on his own.

McLaren set the pace in first practice as well when de la Rosa clocked the fastest time of one minute 33.463 seconds.

Barrichello was a surprise second on the eve of his final race for Ferrari before a winter move to BAR-Honda while Toyota tester Ricardo Zonta was third.

Source: Xinhua