Ferrari lead the way

The fact the 90-minute session ran under leaden Sao Paulo skies, with light rain falling throughout on a newly-resurfaced track, did not help matters.

Alonso, who has won his two titles here in the last two years, did not bother taking to the Interlagos circuit other than to complete a single installation lap.

Raikkonen himself only bothered with nine laps, but he topped the timesheets with a best of one minute 19.580seconds, edging out team- mate Massa by 0.482secs.

Renault's Heikki Kovalainen and the Williams of Nico Rosberg were third and fourth fastest respectively, with Hamilton fifth on his first outing on a track which was the home of his hero Ayrton Senna.

For the first time in 21 years, and only the eighth in the 58-year history of the championship, there is a three-way battle for the crown going into the final race.

After blowing his first chance of becoming the first rookie and the youngest driver to win the title - in the Chinese Grand Prix 12 days ago - Hamilton's lead over Alonso is four points, with Raikkonen seven down.

Needing only to finish as runner-up on Sunday to guarantee the title no matter the positions of Alonso and Raikkonen, Hamilton initially tip-toed round on his first few laps.

He eventually completed 10 laps with his best a time of 1:21.121, just over 1.5secs down on Raikkonen, but given the conditions it hardly mattered.

Jenson Button completed 22 laps and was 12th quickest in his Honda, followed directly by David Coulthard for Red Bull Racing, with Anthony Davidson 17th for Super Aguri.