Lewis Hamilton was today upstaged by McLaren team- mate Heikki Kovalainen, who confirmed his full recovery from a terrifying crash a fortnight ago by setting the second fastest time in opening practice for the Turkish Grand Prix.

Kovalainen's performance was little short of sensational considering the enormity of an accident caused when a wheel failure sent his car careering off the track at 135mph before burying itself in a wall of tyres in Spain.

He had to be carried away from the wreckage and flown to hospital with concussion, yet this morning he was beaten only by the Ferrari of Felipe Massa at the Istanbul Park circuit.

Massa, who on Sunday will race for a hat-trick of victories in the Turkish GP, set a fastest time of 1min 27.323sec. That was 0.133sec faster than Kovalainen and four-tenths ahead of Hamilton, who was one of several drivers to spin on a track made treacherous by a covering of dust.

Fernando Alonso was fourth in the rapidly improving Renault while Britain's Jenson Button was an encouraging fifth in his Honda.

Defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen endured a frustrating session in which he managed only three laps before gearbox problems left him clicking his heels in the pits.

Kovalainen has now given a first personal account of his crash, and denied reports he had been knocked out by the impact with the tyres.

"I don't think I lost consciousness at any point," he said. "The first people who arrived at the scene reported me being awake and assisted getting myself out of there. I don't remember that, but after such a hit on the head I think it's a bit of a shutdown by the body to protect your brain and your organs.

"I was awake all the time assisting the people helping me, I told them to take my crash helmet off, I assisted them by telling them I had no injuries. I was okay, just that the brain was confused and I didn't record anything on my hard drive, if you like. Then, when things calmed down a bit, the brain started working.

"I remember being in intensive care in the hospital, a lot of people around me. I was a bit confused by what had happened so I asked my team doctor, Aki Hintsa, 'What are we doing here?'

"He explained what happened and since then the memory has been normal and I was aware of everything. That's where I got back on track."

"It would be good if one day the whole image came back into my head."

As for Hamilton, he admitted he is starting to get withdrawal symptoms after losing the habit of winning.

The 23-year-old has been absent from the top step of the podium since the opening race of the season in Australia and he conceded that his anxiety is growing. "We are racers and we want to win," he said. "I've tasted it quite a few times and that is what we are here to do."