Lewis Hamilton was unharmed after crashing out during free practice ahead of this Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, a session dominated by the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen. With just over nine minutes of the second practice session at the Sakhir circuit remaining, Hamilton slammed his McLaren sideways into a tyre wall.

The 23-year-old McLaren driver said it was his mistake that led to his session ending early and leaving Ferrari to dominate and take pole position.

"I made a mistake. I got caught out by the kerb and it spun me around. That kerb it is quite spiteful," he said. "If you hit the wrong part of it is spits you off. That barrier is quite close to the side of the track. That's racing. It won't happen again."

Hamilton said the accident would not have any negative effects on him, his car or his race this weekend.

"There is no impact on the weekend. There are no bruises to report from me and we completed most of the session, making some good steps forward," he said. "Ferrari look very quick, but you don't know what fuel loads they are on. I'm hoping that fuel corrected it is a lot closer than things seem. Ferrari did a good job in the last race. We just have to focus on our own work. Pace-wise I feel quite comfortable. We saw from Malaysia that we had the pace to run with them in the race."

Hamilton, the current championship leader, still ended the session with the fourth-quickest time, albeit almost 1.5 seconds down on Massa. The Brazilian, currently without a point from the opening two races in Australia and Malaysia, certainly appeared as if he was trying to prove his worth at Ferrari by posting the fastest time in both sessions.

Although an engine failure accounted for Massa in Melbourne, that was only after he had spun off the track at the first corner and was later involved in a shunt with Red Bull's David Coulthard. Then 12 days ago in Sepang, the Brazilian suffered a loss of concentration that saw him spin out of the race whilst holding onto a comfortable second place.

Massa knows the pressure is mounting on his shoulders, and that he cannot afford similar mistakes this weekend at the Sakhir circuit. He did not put a wheel wrong over the three practice hours, with his best lap time a one minute 31.240 seconds, a second quicker than his pole position lap of a year ago. This is undoubtedly a track Massa loves as he was a pole-to-flag winner last season, and there is every prospect he could repeat the feat.

Kimi Raikkonen, his world champion team-mate, was almost a second down, with Heikki Kovalainen third in his McLaren, just edging Hamilton into fourth.

Massa's pace was such that only the remaining six drivers in the top 10 were within two seconds. BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica posted the fifth-best lap, followed by Nico Rosberg for Williams, David Coulthard in his Red Bull, the second Williams of Kazuki Nakajima, Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais and the Renault of Nelson Piquet.

Jenson Button was 11th in his Honda, with Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson bringing up the rear over four seconds down.

Second practice times:

1. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:31.420
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:32.327
3. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:32.752
4. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:32.847
5. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:32.915
6. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:33.022
7. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull 1:33.048
8. Kazuki Nakajima (Jap) Williams 1:33.098
9. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso 1:33.197
10. Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 1:33.247
11. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:33.710
12. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:33.755
13. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:33.782
14. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:33.822
15. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:33.856
16. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:33.966
17. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:34.023
18. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:34.388
19. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:34.405
20. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso 1:34.787
21. Takuma Sato (Jap) Super Aguri 1:35.28
22. Anthony Davidson (GB) Super Aguri 1:35.712

First session times

1. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:32:233 seconds
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:32.350
3. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:32.415
4. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren 1:32.705
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:32.868
6. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:33.121
7. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:33.333
8. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:33.539
9. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull 1:33.788
10. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:33.815
11. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:33.929
12. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:33.950
13. Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 1:33.981
14. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:34.106
15. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso 1:34.235
16. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso 1:34.321
17. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:34.862
18. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:34.915
19. Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:35.174
20. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:35.429
21. Anthony Davidson (GB) Super Aguri 1:36.145
22. Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri 1:36.536

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