Hamilton fastest in first practice

The two title protagonists went head to head during the 90-minute run at the Shanghai International Circuit, with Hamilton eventually taking the honours.

The McLaren driver, under pressure in the wake of his first-corner mistake in Sunday's race in Japan, currently holds a slender five-point lead over Massa with just two races remaining.

But as if to prove he has shrugged off the adverse reaction to what unfolded, the 23-year-old McLaren star finished a comfortable 0.390 seconds ahead of Massa.

The duo traded fastest laps until Hamilton finally edged ahead prior to cementing top spot with a time of one minute 35.630secs for the 5.451km track.

Hamilton did have his moments, though, as he twice ran wide at high speed at two different parts of the circuit but on both occasions recovered superbly.

Behind Massa came outgoing champion and Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, who will pass on his crown to either the Brazilian or Hamilton, with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica an outside shot.

Raikkonen finished marginally behind Massa, with McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen fourth quickest followed by Kubica, who is 12 points adrift of Hamilton.

Fernando Alonso, winner of the last two races in Singapore and Japan, was the best of the rest albeit a fraction over a second down on Hamilton.

Kubica's BMW Sauber team-mate Nick Heidfeld was seventh, with Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel eighth and 10th, sandwiching the second Renault of Nelson Piquet.