Mclaren limbered up for their title showdown with Renault by setting the pace in Friday practice for the season-ending Chinese Grand Prix.McLaren’s Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa, who will not race on Sunday, lapped 1.8 seconds faster than anybody else in the first session in Shanghai and was also quickest in the second.Ferrari’s Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, without a win since last year’s inaugural Chinese Grand Prix, returned as the fastest race driver in the morning but McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen filled that slot in the afternoon.McLaren need to score two points more than Renault in the season-ending race to take the constructors’ title for the first time since 1998. The Mercedes-powered team lag Renault, who have already clinched the drivers’ championship with Spaniard Fernando Alonso, by two points. However McLaren, winners of the last six races, will take the title if they end up level on points because they have won 10 grands prix this year to their rivals’ seven.
