SHANGHAI: Michael Schumacher's prediction of a close battle between Ferrari and Renault in Shanghai was proven on Friday as Felipe Massa, Schumacher and Fernardo Alonso finished their practice sessions within milliseconds of each other.

Massa lapped his Ferrari 248 F1 in 1 minute 36.599 seconds in the afternoon session, followed closely by teammate Schumacher on 1 minute 36.641 seconds. Alonso, the overall leader in drivers' standings, was just a whisker behind, clocking 1 minute 36.739 seconds in his Renault R26.

The times were all set in the relatively early in the afternoon session, which was hit by drizzle. The rain held off better times on track for a while before the trio was upstaged.

Williams' Alexander Wurz, fastest driver in the morning session, recorded the fastest time of the day 1 minute 35.539 seconds. Sebastian Vettel and Anthony Davidson for BMW Sauber and Honda were the other two to break the 1 minute 36 seconds barrier with 1 minute 35.579 and 1 minute 35.714 respectively.

"The fight with our closest rivals seems to be very tight, even if we have not yet had time to take a close look at all the data," said Schumacher.

There is only a three-point gap between the leading Ferrari and Renault and the Shanghai race is crucial to the battle for the team championship.

"It is difficult to make predictions on tyre performance given today's weather," said Schumacher. "I like driving at this track it is very tough with a big variety of corner types."

Alonso, champion here last year, won't let any winning chance slip away and expects to extend his two-point lead in the drivers' standings over Schumacher.

"This is a track I always enjoy, especially with the good memories from the championship win last year, and even with the V8 engines and the other changes since 2005, it still felt very good to drive today."

Ferrari was dealt an early blow before Sunday's battle with Massa slapped with a grid penalty after the team opted to change the engine on his car.

It means the Brazilian will drop ten places on his qualifying position for the start of Sunday's race.

Ferrari have tried to stay positive. "We have to look at the data and the engine itself to understand what happened," said technical director Ross Brawn. "It is a real pity given that our performance level is pretty good. The cars seemed to be well balanced and our overall situation seems quite positive."

The penalty also means that Schumacher has to fight it out alone against the Renault pair of Alonso and Giancario Fisichella, who placed fourth on the standings.

Wurz, third driver for Williams, is excited with his Shanghai debut.

"It was a good day today and driving was a lot of fun out there. I have never driven this circuit, and I attacked it right from the beginning. The car responded very well which means the aero update we have brought here is definitely a good step forward," he said.

Wurz is among a group of third drivers who dominated the day with five clocking times fast enough to make the top ten.

But it was a bad day for last year's runner-up, McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who spun in the slippery conditions during the first hour and then only completed four laps in the second practice, ending the day 21st fastest.

Source: China Daily