Friday April 26th, 2002
By Will Gray
World Champion Michael Schumacher was fastest in Friday's second practice session for the Spanish Grand Prix but the Ferrari driver was chased hard by the surprise of the day, Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Arrows.
As track temperatures rose at the sun-drenched Circuit de Catalunya, Schumacher briefly spun early in the session but improved his morning practice time by three tenths of a second to finish just seven hundredths faster than countryman Frentzen.
Jenson Button moved firmly into the top ten with an impressive third place for Renault, finishing only three tenths of a second off the pace of the Ferrari and just ahead of the Italian team's second car of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.
The top ten was a mix of unusual drivers as teams concentrated on race preparation around the Barcelona track, and there was little action other than Schumacher's early spin.
Frenchman Olivier Panis finished a morale-boosting fifth place for British American Racing and he was one place ahead of Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi, in the second car of the surprisingly high-flying Arrows team.
Finn Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest of the two McLaren drivers in seventh place. Giancarlo Fisichella was eighth for Jordan with the Sauber of Felipe Massa ninth and Jarno Trulli tenth in the second Renault despite an off-track excursion late in the session.
David Coulthard was down in 12th place in the second McLaren-Mercedes while the Williams-BMW pair of German Ralf Schumacher and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya sat outside the top ten in 15th and 17th places respectively.
Pos Driver Team Times
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:20.380 211.844 km/h
2. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:20.450 + 0.070
3. Button Renault (M) 1:20.693 + 0.313
4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:20.742 + 0.362
5. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:20.758 + 0.378
6. Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:20.834 + 0.454
7. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:20.996 + 0.616
8. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:21.169 + 0.789
9. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 1:21.197 + 0.817
10. Trulli Renault (M) 1:21.278 + 0.898
11. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:21.294 + 0.914
12. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:21.298 + 0.918
13. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:21.301 + 0.921
14. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:21.351 + 0.971
15. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:21.409 + 1.029
16. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:21.413 + 1.033
17. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:21.623 + 1.243
18. Salo Toyota (M) 1:22.082 + 1.702
19. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:22.094 + 1.714
20. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:22.459 + 2.079
21. McNish Toyota (M) 1:22.564 + 2.184
22. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:23.269 + 2.889
All Timing Unofficial
Published at 12:02:20 GMT