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NUERBURGRING, Germany -- Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton and his Ferrari rival Kimi Raikkonen set the pace in Friday's practice sessions for the European Grand Prix.
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Hamilton has been battling a cold but drove his McLaren around the 3.2-mile Nuerburgring circuit in 1 minute, 32.515 seconds in the morning session, the fastest time of the day.
Raikkonen, coming off two straight wins in France and Britain, topped the afternoon session in 1:33.339, ahead of Hamilton by .139 seconds.
Hamilton is seeking to become the first driver to win the championship in his rookie season. He leads two-time defending champion and teammate Fernando Alonso by 12 points with eight races remaining.
Raikkonen was second in the first session in 1:32.751, while Hamilton was second in the afternoon in 1:33.478.
After nine races, Hamilton leads the drivers' championship with 70 points. Alonso has 58, Raikkonen 52 and Ferrari's Felipe Massa 51. A win is worth 10 points.
Alonso was third in 1:32.932 in the morning and dropped to fourth in the afternoon, after Massa. Massa's time was 1:33.590 and Alonso was .047 seconds behind him. Massa trailed sixth in the morning.
Sunday's race will be the first in Germany since the retirement of Michael Schumacher, the seven-time champion who won last year's race in his final season with Ferrari.
His younger brother, Ralf, placed seventh for Toyota in the morning and improved to fifth in the afternoon.
The two BMW-Sauber drivers -- Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica -- were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the morning session. But they fell back in the afternoon, to ninth and 10th.
Toyota, which has been struggling this season, had its second driver -- Jarno Trulli - in sixth place in the afternoon.
Nico Rosberg in a Williams and Jenson Button in a Honda also came in ahead of the two BMWs in the afternoon.
Markus Winkelhock, making his F1 debut for Spyker, was 22nd and last in both sessions, spinning out in the afternoon.
Both practice sessions came in dry weather, although a massive downpour drenched the track during the break. Qualifying will be held Saturday.
