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.

Massa, who has won the last two races in Turkey, traded fastest times with Kovalainen throughout the session.

The Brazilian's best lap of one minute 27.323 seconds at Istanbul Park was just 0.133secs clear of the Finn, who was cleared on Thursday to race in Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix after passing a FIA medical examination.

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

Lewis Hamilton was third fastest in his McLaren but champion Kimi Raikkonen managed only three laps in his Ferrari, as a gearbox problem consigned him to the pits for the rest of the 90-minute session. Hamilton had a spin, and was marginally off the pace of his team-mate throughout.

Raikkonen was left at the bottom of the time sheets at the endof the session.

Renault's revival continued following their impressive step forward in Spain, with Fernando Alonso setting fourth fastest time, 0.961secs off Massa's pace.

Jenson Button's Honda was a striking fifth, but that is unlikely to be an accurate indication of his potential for the rest of the weekend - the Englishman was another 0.6secs further back.

His team-mate Rubens Barrichello - celebrating his record-breaking 257th Grand Prix this weekend despite doubt about whether he has yet officially achieved that mark - was a little over 0.1secs slower in eighth place, behind Kazuki Nakajima's Williams and the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.

Alonso's team-mate Nelson Piquet Jr and Timo Glock's Toyota rounded out the top 10.