Friday July 5th, 2002

By Will Gray

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello topped the times in Friday's opening practice session for the British Grand Prix as his World Champion teammate Michael Schumacher spun off and the debt-ridden Arrows team failed to make it on track.

As rain continuously drizzled onto the track at the cloudy Silverstone circuit, Barrichello shone as Schumacher sat watching by the side of the track following an early spin at Abbey which left him sidelined for the session.

Brazilian Barrichello's time of 1:33.531 was 1.213 seconds faster than closest rival Jenson Button, in the Renault, who was followed by David Coulthard's McLaren as British drivers claimed two of the top three spots.

The rain strengthened as the session came to a close to leave Finn Kimi Raikkonen fourth fastest as all the cars returned to the pits to finish the session in their garages.

Ulsterman Eddie Irvine was fifth in the newly-modified Jaguar, with his teammate Pedro de la Rosa seventh behind Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella, but it remains to be seen what the true performance improvement the changes will give.

Schumacher's spin on the damp track saw him come to a halt under the bridge at Bridge corner and his car was pushed into a safe position before he got out and watched the rest of the session in a deck chair.

His Williams-BMW rival Juan Pablo Montoya, of Colombia, also hit trouble when his engine blew mid way through the session and he finished 12th, while Fisichella and Sauber's Felipe Massa both spun twice.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was eighth fastest ahead of Jordan's Takuma Sato, with the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld completing the top ten as Ralf Schumacher's usual Friday form for Williams-BMW saw him down in 16th position.

The Arrows pair of Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi and German Heinz-Harald Frentzen were both present with their cars in the garage but they were unable to get out on track.

It is understood that money owed to engine suppliers Cosworth has still not been paid and they will not be able to get on track until it is handed over, because Cosworth will not give the team the electronic boxes required to run the engines.

Pos  Driver        Team                   Time                    Laps
 1.  Barrichello   Ferrari           (B)  1:33.531  197.877 km/h   9  
 2.  Button        Renault           (M)  1:34.744    +    1.213  14  
 3.  Coulthard     McLaren Mercedes  (M)  1:35.295    +    1.764  10  
 4.  Raikkonen     McLaren Mercedes  (M)  1:35.407    +    1.876  13  
 5.  Irvine        Jaguar Cosworth   (M)  1:35.682    +    2.151  15  
 6.  de la Rosa    Jaguar Cosworth   (M)  1:36.287    +    2.756  13  
 7.  Fisichella    Jordan Honda      (B)  1:36.325    +    2.794  13  
 8.  Villeneuve    BAR Honda         (B)  1:36.603    +    3.072  14  
 9.  Sato          Jordan Honda      (B)  1:36.641    +    3.110  14  
10.  Heidfeld      Sauber Petronas   (B)  1:36.661    +    3.130   8  
11.  Trulli        Renault           (M)  1:37.204    +    3.673  13  
12.  Montoya       Williams BMW      (M)  1:37.651    +    4.120   5  
13.  Panis         BAR Honda         (B)  1:37.762    +    4.231   8  
14.  Massa         Sauber Petronas   (B)  1:37.774    +    4.243   7  
15.  Webber        Minardi Asiatech  (M)  1:37.858    +    4.327  16  
16.  R.Schumacher  Williams BMW      (M)  1:38.744    +    5.213  10  
17.  McNish        Toyota            (M)  1:39.137    +    5.606  15  
18.  Yoong         Minardi Asiatech  (M)  1:43.108    +    9.577  15  
19.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari           (B)  no time 
20.  Salo          Toyota            (M)  no time 
21.  Frentzen      Arrows Cosworth   (M)  no time
22.  Bernoldi      Arrows Cosworth   (M)  no time

All Timing Unofficial

Published at 11:02:19 GMT

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