By PAUL LOGOTHETIS
AP Auto Racing Writer
SAKHIR, Bahrain (AP) Force India's Adrian Sutil set the fastest time in the opening practice session of the Formula One season at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday.
Sutil's lap time of 1 minute, 56.583 seconds around the Bahrain International circuit was just under two-tenths of a second faster than Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
Robert Kubica of Renault was third ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa, with McLaren pair Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton next.
Michael Schumacher, the seven-time world champion, produced a 10th-best time of 1:57.662 in his Mercedesover 1-second off Sutil's pace as he makes his return from three years in retirement.
Hispania Racing, which missed all of preseason testing, got three laps under its belt courtesy of Bruno Senna nephew of three-time champion Ayrton Senna.
Force India was a surprise points earner late last season and appears to have built upon that heading into the 2010 season opener, with Tonio Liuzzi seventh on Friday.
As he did during preseason testing, two-time champion Alonso stayed near the top of the time sheets with a best lap of 1:56.766 about three tenths faster than Kubica, Massa and Button.
Schumacher's time was disappointing as Mercedes arrived at the desert race with a major upgrade that was expected to boost performance. Teammate Nico Rosberg was eighth, over seven-tenths faster than Schumacher, and ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber.
Webber's teammate Sebastian Vettel, another of the title contenders after finishing runner-up to winner Button last season, was 13th and 1.360 seconds off the pace.
Virgin Racing was fastest of the three new teams on the grid ahead of Lotus and Hispania. Senna's three laps were an achievement considering his team's rush to even compete at Bahrain, and marked the return of the famous Senna name for the first time since Ayrton Senna death in a crash at Imola in 1994.
Senna's teammate Karun Chandhok did not test due to a hydraulics problem but the Spanish team hoped to get the Indian driver on track for Friday's second practice.
There will be a third practice session then qualifying on Saturday, ahead of Sunday's race.
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