Britain's Lewis Hamilton shrugged off a dose of flu to set the fastest time in Friday's first practice for the European Grand Prix in Germany.

The McLaren driver, who leads the drivers' standings by 12 points, was top for most of the session before Ferrari title rival Kimi Raikkonen edged past him late on.

But Hamilton regained top spot by 0.236 seconds from the Finn, while McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso was third fastest, followed closely by the BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, confirmed as Honda's driver line-up for 2008 yesterday, were eighth and 10th respectively, sandwiching Red Bull Racing's David Coulthard in ninth.

But Hamilton again took the spotlight, despite suffering from flu since Sunday.

He was ordered to rest on Wednesday after his media engagements and recovered enough to continue his impressive form ahead of the second practice session on Friday afternoon.

Before his rest, Hamilton confirmed the car was the best he had driven on the first day of last week's three-day test at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

In dry but overcast conditions, Anthony Davidson was two seconds down for Super Aguri, while it was no surprise to see the Spyker of Markus Winkelhock bringing up the rear.

After Christijan Albers was sacked by the team last week for non payment from one of his sponsors, Spyker opted to turn to German tester Winkelhock, despite his lack of time in the car.

Yet that was evident as he evidently struggled, spinning at one point on track, while he finished the session a hefty 4.601secs down.

European Grand Prix Friday first practice times:

1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:32.515