Lewis Hamilton edged Felipe Massa in Friday's practice sessions for the Japan Grand Prix, but there was little to separate the two rivals as they battle for the World Championship.
The British McLaren driver, who topped the first practice session in the foothills of Mount Fuji, was just one-tenth of a second ahead of the Brazilian in his Ferrari during the morning session.
That gap shrunk to just 0.028 seconds as the pair finished third and fourth respectively in the 90 minute afternoon practice at the 4.56 kilometre circuit.
Hamilton leads Massa by seven points in the title race with three Grand Prix remaining, and the Brazilian is eager to bounce back after a Ferrari pit stop blunder in Singapore turned an almost certain win into a 13th place finish.
The Briton, who won the first Formula One race at Fuji Speedway in 30 years when he dominated in atrocious conditions last year, was just 0.080 seconds behind the surprise star of Friday's afternoon running, Toyota's Timo Glock.
The 26-year-old German, who was just 18th in the morning on his first visit to the venue, recorded the fastest time of the day, clocking a 1min 18.383secs lap to give circuit owners Toyota an unexpected boost.
Williams' Japanese star Kazuki Nakajima gave the sparse crowd at Fuji something more to smile about, finishing in the top 10 in both sessions.
But a home race failed to improve Honda's dismal 2008 season, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello running near the bottom of the timesheets all day.
Button finished Friday's second session in 20th and last place.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso continued his late-season resurgence, with the winner of the last race in Singapore finishing fifth and second in the two sessions for Renault.
The top seven cars in the afternoon run all set times equal to or faster than Hamilton's best time last year of 1:18.734, recorded on the only dry day of the 2007 event.
There were several minor incidents, as Mark Webber, Sebastian Bourdais, Sebastian Vettel, Glock, Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella and Rubens Barrichello all ventured briefly off course.
Showers are forecast for Saturday morning's hour-long free practice session, but Sunday's race day is predicted to be dry.
