Hamilton sets the pace in Malaysia

Lewis Hamilton beat title rivals Ferrari to set the pace in the practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Felipe Massa had dominated the first session and his team held the upper hand for the majority of the second 90-minute practice period.

But Hamilton produced a lap of 1 minute 35.055 seconds, the fastest of the day, to edge out Massa by just over a tenth of a second with Kimi Raikkonen 0.373 seconds back in third, demonstrating the championship pacesetter will be a force to be reckoned with in Sepang.

Raikkonen had set a time of 1 minute 36.045 seconds early in the session, which proved the benchmark for a period until the Finn shattered his own mark by over four tenths.

Sebastian Vettel then jumped into a surprise second place with a strong effort, posting a lap of 1:36.474 seconds before first Hamilton and then Massa surpassed the Toro Rosso.

Hamilton had edged into second with a time of 1:36.414 seconds, which he subsequently improved on.

But Massa leapfrogged the Brit by seven tenths before going even quicker, the Brazilian's effort of 1:35.687 seconds marginally trailing that of team-mate Raikkonen.

But it was not long before Massa hit the front and then extended his advantage after crossing the line in 1:35:206 seconds.

Raikkonen tried to hit back but his time of 1:35:592 seconds was only a slight improvement on his best.

And as the session wound down, Hamilton produced his best effort and one that neither Massa nor Raikkonen could better, though the latter did go quicker in recording a lap of 1:35.428 seconds.

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