Davidson fastest in practice 1

Davidson set the pace in 1:12.083, beating Schumacher by just under four tenths of a second.

The seven-time world champion was pushing to depose Davidson of the top spot with four minutes remaining when he put the outside of his Ferrari onto the slippery white line at turn four and spun off backwards.

With his car deep in the gravel, he was forced to abandon the machine and head back to the pits.

Behind them, BMW Sauber test driver Robert Kubica was third, with Honda completing a strong session with their race drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button next up.

Toro Rosso test driver Neel Jani completed the top six.

Scott Speed got his maiden home race weekend off to the worst possible start as his Toro Rosso car ground to a halt at the end of the pitlane with just six minutes of the session gone.

After waiting in his car for around five minutes, expecting a push from the marshals, he sprinted back to his garage, but was left to rue some lost practice mileage.

Christijan Albers spun in his Midland - but did so on two consecutive laps - first, in the middle of the long turn six and then when he put two wheels on the grass at turn 11, pitching him into a 360-degree spin.

His compatriot Robert Doornbos made it a Dutch double at turn 11 as the Red Bull test driver ran wide on the exit of the corner late in the session, driving through the gravel trap and back onto the circuit.

And Super Aguri test driver Sakon Yamamoto also suffered, locking his right-front tyre and running across the grass on the exit of turn one - without damage.

Ralf Schumacher seemed more interested in watching Germany's World Cup quarter final match against Argentina on a screen in the Toyota garage.

Schumacher, who celebrates his 31st birthday today, failed to complete a flying lap, just like world champion Fernando Alonso and his Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella.

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Davidson      Honda               (M)  1:12.083           27
 2.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari             (B)  1:12.458 + 0.375    3
 3.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:13.008 + 0.925   31
 4.  Barrichello   Honda               (M)  1:13.090 + 1.007    5
 5.  Button        Honda               (M)  1:13.189 + 1.106    6
 6.  Jani          Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:13.710 + 1.627   24
 7.  Mondini       MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:14.654 + 2.571   33
 8.  Wurz          Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:14.745 + 2.662   38
 9.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:14.791 + 2.708    8
10.  Doornbos      Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:15.018 + 2.935   22
11.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:15.091 + 3.008    8
12.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:15.532 + 3.449    8
13.  Albers        MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:15.647 + 3.564   10
14.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:15.971 + 3.888   17
15.  Yamamoto      Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:16.116 + 4.033   31
16.  Montagny      Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:16.489 + 4.406   17
17.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  No time             2
18.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  No time             2
19.  Fisichella    Renault             (M)  No time             3
20.  Alonso        Renault             (M)  No time             1
21.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  No time             1
22.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  No time             1
23.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  No time             1
24.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  No time             1
25.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber          (M)  No time             1
26.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber          (M)  No time             2
27.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)
28.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth   (B)
29.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth   (B)

All Timing Unofficial