Friday July 26th, 2002

By Will Gray

Michael Schumacher soared to the top of the timesheets as the opening day of practice on the new Hockenheim circuit concluded with another one-two finish for his all-conquering Ferrari team.

Schumacher and second-placed teammate Rubens Barrichello excelled as the entire field of Formula One drivers had their first experience of the newly-developed and significantly-shortened circuit.

Newly-crowned World Champion Schumacher set a time of 1:16.086 with five minutes of the afternoon session to go, beating Barrichello's 1:16.248 set in the morning practice hour.

The McLaren-Mercedes pair of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard delighted their German engine suppliers by finishing third and fourth respectively, both within four tenths of a second of Schumacher's time

German Ralf Schumacher was fourth in the first of the Williams-BMW machines, but he was more than eight tenths of a second off the lead pace, while Ulsterman Eddie Irvine finished sixth for Jaguar, but was a further two tenths slower.

Juan Pablo Montoya was seventh in the second Williams with Felipe Massa eighth for Sauber and Allan McNish ninth in the lead Toyota, some six tenths faster than his 18th placed Finnish teammate Mika Salo.

Both Arrows cars completed a full Friday of practice for the first time since they were last in Germany, for the European Grand Prix, three races ago, with German Heinz-Harald Frentzen finishing 10th with Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi 11th.

Jordan's Japanese driver Takuma Sato and Malaysian Alex Yoong both spun early in the session, and the latter was forced to end his practice after his Minardi became beached on a kerb.

Schumacher also had a brief spin, as did Raikkonen and Montoya as all drivers explored the limits of car set-up on the new circuit. Frenchman Olivier Panis, of British American Racing Honda and Italians Jarno Trulli, of Renault and Giancarlo Fisichella, of Jordan, both stopped out on the track.

Pos  Driver        Team                   Time                    Laps
 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari           (B)  1:16.086  216.418 km/h  45  
 2.  Barrichello   Ferrari           (B)  1:16.248    +    0.162  49  
 3.  Raikkonen     McLaren Mercedes  (M)  1:16.344    +    0.258  34  
 4.  Coulthard     McLaren Mercedes  (M)  1:16.440    +    0.354  29  
 5.  R.Schumacher  Williams BMW      (M)  1:16.934    +    0.848  48  
 6.  Irvine        Jaguar Cosworth   (M)  1:17.136    +    1.050  38  
 7.  Montoya       Williams BMW      (M)  1:17.187    +    1.101  49  
 8.  Massa         Sauber Petronas   (B)  1:17.361    +    1.275  47  
 9.  McNish        Toyota            (M)  1:17.422    +    1.336  46  
10.  Frentzen      Arrows Cosworth   (B)  1:17.471    +    1.385  39  
11.  Bernoldi      Arrows Cosworth   (B)  1:17.481    +    1.395  39  
12.  Panis         BAR Honda         (B)  1:17.482    +    1.396  34  
13.  Heidfeld      Sauber Petronas   (B)  1:17.573    +    1.487  45  
14.  Sato          Jordan Honda      (B)  1:17.684    +    1.598  49  
15.  de la Rosa    Jaguar Cosworth   (M)  1:17.732    +    1.646  25  
16.  Fisichella    Jordan Honda      (B)  1:17.805    +    1.719  33  
17.  Villeneuve    BAR Honda         (B)  1:17.954    +    1.868  52  
18.  Salo          Toyota            (M)  1:18.023    +    1.937  44  
19.  Button        Renault           (M)  1:18.211    +    2.125  44  
20.  Trulli        Renault           (M)  1:18.658    +    2.572  25  
21.  Webber        Minardi Asiatech  (M)  1:19.594    +    3.508  32  
22.  Yoong         Minardi Asiatech  (M)  1:20.164    +    4.078  29

All Timing Unofficial

Published at 12:02:07 GMT

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