Ferrari's Felipe Massa narrowly beat McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen to set the pace in Friday's first practice session at the Turkish Grand Prix.

The Brazilian's best lap of one minute 27.323 seconds at Istanbul Park was just 0.133secs clear of the Finn.

Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in his McLaren but champion Kimi Raikkonen managed only three laps in his Ferrari.

Raikkonen managed only one flying lap, more than a second off the pace Massa was setting at the time, before returning to the pits for the rest of the 90-minute session.

Both Ferraris took their time before emerging from the pits, but when they did Massa, who has won this race twice, was immediately on the pace.

His first four-lap run was consistently quicker than Kovalainen's had been, and he ended it with a lap of 1:27.940.

Kovalainen, returning to the track for the first time since suffering concussion in a heavy accident at the Spanish Grand Prix, was more controlled.

He was the faster and more impressive of the McLaren drivers throughout the session.

Hamilton, by contrast, appeared to struggle. He had a spin, and was marginally off the pace of his team-mate throughout.

Renault's Fernando Alonso set the fourth fastest time, 0.961secs off Massa's pace, while Jenson Button's Honda was sixth, another 0.6secs further back.

Times from first practice at the Turkish Grand Prix:

1 Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari one minute 27.323 seconds
2 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.456
3 Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.752
4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:28.284
5. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:28.919
6. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:29.002
7. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:29.024
8. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:29.068
9. Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault 1:29.082
10. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:29.103
11. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:29.329
12. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:29.330
13. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:29.367
14. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:29.756
15. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:29.811
16. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:30.088
17. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:30.340
18. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:30.388
19. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:30.426
20. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:30.732