Hamilton ahead of disgruntled Raikkonen

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Lewis Hamilton captured the fastest practice time for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, as world champion Kimi Raikkonen was left dissatisfied with the set-up of his Ferrari car after a disappointing afternoon run took the gloss off an impressive first session.

The Finn looked sharp as he went round quickest in opening practice with one minute 26.461 seconds, but he was dismayed with a struggling 1:28.208 in the afternoon.

Hamilton took over at the top with 1:26.559 in the afternoon.

Early conclusions suggested that Ferrari and McLaren would again dominate a race which they have won nine teams between them in the 12 runnings in Melbourne.

But Ferrari's mechanics needed to work on an improved car set-up for Saturday's one-off qualifying to determine race grid positions after the afternoon setback.

"I am not very happy with the way practice went," Raikkonen said. "This morning we found some good settings for the car, but in the afternoon, we struggled and our lap times reflect that.

"We must look carefully at the data to work out how to improve the car.

"We have seen that if we manage to find the right set-up, then we have the potential to be competitive."

Hamilton, who lost last season's championship by a point after being overhauled in the final race in Brazil, was pleased with the start to the season by his McLaren.

"There was some good progress with the car and we made the best use of the ever improving track conditions," Hamilton said.

"However, our main opposition looks strong, but it's still too early to tell exactly where we are in comparison... all in all a good start to the season."

Elsewhere Australian Mark Webber, preparing for his seventh drive at his home GP, was prominent in both practice sessions in his Red Bull.

He was in spot for most of the afternoon practice before Hamilton swooped on his 31st lap and he nudged out Renault's dual world champion Fernando Alonso for fifth fastest in the morning.

"That wasn't too bad. There was probably a few different fuel loads out there so it's hard to know exactly where we are," Webber said.

"There are definitely four or five cars that are quicker than us, so we'll get our heads down this evening and work on the race information before qualifying tomorrow."

It was a trying first day back at Renault for Alonso.

Alonso, who broke with McLaren after an acrimonious first season last year, completed a total of 59 laps in practice, but his best time in the morning session left him sixth with 1:28.360.

"We made good progress with the set-up of the car, but we still have to improve the stability of the car under braking and its overall balance," Alonso said.

"We must find some performance, but I am optimistic for the rest of the weekend."

Alonso won his two world titles with Renault in 2005/06 E-mail to a friend