Shanghai, China, greeted the field with clear skies and a dry track, which made for a pleasant change after a damp weekend five days ago in Japan.

De la Rosa was on top early as the cars hit the track for the day’s opening practice run.

The Spaniard set the session’s first time and would never be moved from the top of the timesheets.

In the end the McLaren reserve would finish some 1.8 seconds quicker (1:33.463) than his nearest rival in Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello (1:35.303).

The Brazilian mounted a late charge for the top time but fell well short as the chequered flag waved.

Toyota’s Ricardo Zonta (1:35.481) finished third fastest, ahead of McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen (1:35.481) who had more reason for concern.

After an engine failure at Suzuka last weekend mechanics were again busy at the back of the Finn’s MP4-20.

While there were no reported problems it wasn’t until the final minutes that Raikkonen made it onto the circuit to set a time.

Renault also wore glum faced after losing one car late in the outing after Giancarlo Fisichella spun off the circuit at turn two.

Relations between the team and driver were already strained – see Japanese GP report where Fisichella lost the lead on the final lap – so the mistake certainly didn’t help.

Felipe Massa was the only other man to spend significant time off track after he too spun into the gravel.

However the Sauber ace managed to keep the engine running and find his way out of trouble and back onto the circuit.