Hamilton issues warning to Raikkonen

Raikkonen had topped the timesheets in the morning's 90-minute session with a lap of one minute 26.461 seconds and although Hamilton's effort was just under one hundredth of a second slower than his Finnish rival, it provided further belief the duo will be the main contenders for the 2008 drivers' crown.

Hamilton set the early pace with a time of 1.27.742 secs at the start of the second run before Mark Webber put his Red Bull at the head of the field. The Australian improved his mark to 1:27:614 and led the way for the majority of the session before Hamilton bettered that by almost a second with minutes remaining, posting a lap of 1:26.559 as all teams took the opportunity to put plenty of laps under their belts ahead of the season-opener at Albert Park this weekend.

Webber eventually finished second, encouraging signs for his home Grand Prix after finishing fifth in the morning outing as Red Bull showed they are set for a competitive weekend.

Felipe Massa was third but over a second off the pace while Hamilton's new team-mate Heikki Kovalainen finished fourth.

David Coulthard improved on his 13th place in the first session to post an effort of 1:28.037 and claim fifth in the other Red Bull, while Raikkonen was sixth, well off the pace of his morning mark. Jarno Trulli finished seventh in the Toyota and the Williams of Nico Rosberg rounded out the top eight.

Jenson Button again finished 11th but over half a second up on his morning time, while Anthony Davidson finished dead last in the troubled Super Aguri, which only completed eight laps after an equally difficult first run.

Earlier, Raikkonen had looked impressive as the Ferrari led the way in this morning's first practice. The Finn on Thursday played down his favourite's tag but his time of one minute 26.461 seconds was nearly half a second quicker than the Hamilton's McLaren.

Hamilton had led for a healthy portion of the 90-minute session as the cars took to the track for the first time in the 2008 season, setting a time of one minute 27.085secs.

But Raikkonen bettered his title rival's time with just over two minutes remaining before taking a further four tenths of a second off his mark.