Giorgio  Pantano  has  started  as  he  means  to  go  on  by  claiming  the  top  spot  in  free practice this morning in Istanbul, edging out the Piquet Sports duo of Andreas Zuber and Pastor Maldonado.

The Italian was fast throughout the session, setting the best times in every sector overall, and his laptime  of  1:33.815  was  just  three  tenths  off  the  optimum  split  sector  lap.  His  lap  was  also  two tenths faster than Zuber, who in turn was four tenths ahead of his teammate. With the session taking place under overcast skies the temperature was not optimal for the hard compound tyres being used this weekend, but with the pace being fast from the start you would be forgiven for looking at the laptimes and assuming it was ideal weather for the field.

The first half of the  session  was  dominated  by  the  eventual  top  three  along  with  Sébastien  Buemi  and  Alvaro Parente, with Pantano taking control of the session at the halfway mark.

Further  back  the  ART  drivers  were  struggling,  with  both  Luca  Filippi  and  Romain  Grosjean spending time off track as they tried to tame their recalcitrant cars: the Frenchman eventually found a compromise which allowed him to set the fourth fastest time at the end of the session, but last year's poleman struggled through to the end with little reward for his hard work.

They weren't the only men struggling during the session: Adrian Valles and Alberto Valerio touched as they tried to share the same corner, while Buemi, Yelmer Buurman and Javier Villa also had big spins as they went over the edge in pursuit of a fast lap. Kamui Kobayashi and Valerio had reasons to  be  disappointed  with  their  session:  both  men  crossed  the  finish line twice after the chequered flag, picking up five place penalties for the race one grid as a result of their over enthusiasm. But  in  the  end  it  was  Pantano  on  top  of  the  timesheets,  with  his  fastest  lap  being  1.7  seconds ahead of the quickest time in free practice here last year.

With 22 drivers within 2 seconds of his time, and with a shower starting just after the session completed, this afternoon's qualifying session promises to be more than a little dramatic.