SAO PAULO, Oct 19, 2007 (AFP) - Finland´s Kimi Raikkonen topped the times in rain-hit, first practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos here early Friday, the Ferrari driver enjoying a healthy advantage over his two title rivals.

Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa was four-tenths of a second behind him with Heikki Kovalainen of Finland third for Renault, German-born Nico Rosberg fourth for Williams and title race leader Lewis Hamilton fifth for McLaren.

Hamilton, who leads team-mate and defending double world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain by four points leading into Sunday´s showdown, was 1.5 seconds slower than Raikkonen after doing only 10 laps in the rain to learn the track.

It is Hamilton´s first visit to Sao Paulo and the Interlagos track where his hero Ayrton Senna was a local hero.

Alonso did only one lap in the treacherous wet conditions and wound up 21st of the 22 drivers in the practice times.

The session was run in steady rain and this produced a cautious approach by most of the teams with Ferrari showing their strength in the conditions.

Hamilton did not go out until midway through the session, but he soon proved that he would learn the circuit quickly and will be a competitive threat this weekend.

His only priority however in this race is to finish the race ahead of his team-mate and to score at least three points in case Raikkonen wins.