McLarens fastest in warm-up

Coulthard's time of 1m23.144s was set with just six minutes of the session remaining, but with spots of rain in the air and a damp track, the times were well off Michael Schumacher's pole time of 1m14.266s.

Schumacher in the Ferrari could only set a time of 1m23.922s this morning, but that was good enough to be third quickest in the warm-up.

With tyre selection critical for the race, a few of the teams sent their drivers out on slicks, notably the McLaren of Hakkinen and the Ferrari of Schumacher, a few minutes before the end of the session, but no one could improve on the time they had set on their intermediates.

When the session got underway, the drivers took a little while to adjust to the conditions. Pedro Diniz in the Sauber spun at Turn 7, just before the long infield straight, 10 minutes into the session. Jarno Trulli in the Jordan took a trip across the gravel at Turn 11 with seven minutes to go. And Irvine compounded Jaguar's woes by spinning at Turn 8 just as the session came to a close.

If, as forecast, the rain does fall during the race, there may well be more drivers who take unplanned detours at Indianapolis.

For full results, click HERE.