Currently reading: Sutil tops first F1 practice
Force India driver steals the show in season-opening run in Bahrain

Adrian Sutil has upstaged Formula One's heavy-hitters to claim fastest time in the first timed practice session of the 2010 season in Bahrain.

The Force India driver posted a 1m56.583sec lap with 25 minutes of the 90-minute session remaining - and that time proved enough to fend off the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard ended the session 0.183sec adrift in second.

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Robert Kubica put in a strong performance for Renault to claim third, 0.458sec behind Sutil, while Felipe Massa backed up Ferrari's strong pre-season pace in fourth.

In the battles of the team-mates, Jenson button ended the session 0.1sec ahead of fellow McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, while Nico Rosberg eclipsed seven-times champion Michael Schumacher by 0.4sec. Schumacher ended the session in 10th, around one second off Sutil's time.

The new teams endured a difficult session. Timo Glock's Virgin was the quickest of the six new cars, seven seconds behind Sutil and 0.2sec clear of Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus. And the HRT-Cosworths failed to post any times; Bruno Senna conducted a shakedown of his example 70 minutes into the session.

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