SAO PAULO, Oct 17 Renault's Fernando Alonso made his peace with future Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa on Friday before setting the pace in free practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

While the Spaniard lapped with a best time of one minute 12.314 seconds, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was the fastest of the three championship contenders ahead of what could be a title-deciding race on Sunday.

The Brawn GP driver was second in the morning session, behind Red Bull's Mark Webber, and third in the afternoon at what amounts to a neighbourhood track for the Sao Paulo native.

His team mate and championship leader Jenson Button, who could take the crown on Sunday with a race to spare, was seventh and fifth respectively.

Australian Webber had lapped the anti-clockwise circuit in 112.463 seconds before lunch, with occasional rain interrupting proceedings.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, the third man in the title fight, managed the third and seventh best times in the two sessions.

Alonso, a double world champion who won both of his titles with Renault at Interlagos without winning the Brazilian race, had been in the spotlight on Thursday in continued fallout from his team's involvement in a race-fixing scandal.

While the Spaniard has been cleared of any involvement in an affair that landed Renault a suspended permanent ban, Massa told Brazilian reporters his future team mate must have known what was going on. —Reuters