Button Fastest in First Qualifying - British GP

It was a case of who can go the slowest in pre-qualifying for the British Grand Prix on Saturday when teams put the brakes on their drivers midway through the session in preparation for rain in the later grid deciding runs.

Briton Jenson Button finished top of the times or BAR-Honda after going out fifth in the session but most drivers then slowed midway through the session after hearing predictions of wet weather.

World Champion Michael Schumacher was the first driver out in the session and tried for a flying lap but he spun his Ferrari at Brooklands - for the third time in the day - and finished down in 14th place.

Barrichello also spun early in his lap and finished two places ahead of his teammate, and Italian Jarno Trulli had set the pace for Renault before eventually dropping down to fifth place.

Brazilian Sauber driver Felipe Massa eventually finished second after deciding to push for his lap but opinions began to appear split over whether the rain would actually come as the session drew to a close.

French Toyota driver Oliver Panis was third and Italian Jordan driver Giorgio Pantano fourth but Button's team-mate Takuma Sato chose to go slow after heading out last in the session.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who set the fastest time in final practice, finished sixth fastest with Spaniard Fernando Alonso seventh for Renault and Brazil's Cristiano da Matta eighth for Toyota.

Minardi pair Gianmaria Bruni, of Italy, and Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner, completed the top ten for Minardi after pushing for a time on their laps late in the session.

Nick Heidfeld will be the first to start the grid-deciding session after failing to set a time in his Jordan. Italian Giancarlo Fisichella also did not set a time and will be out second.

Pos Driver Team T1 T2 Time 1. (5) Button BAR-Honda (M) 25.013 58.924 1:18.872 2. (13) Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 24.847 59.336 1:19.317 + 0.445 3. (15) Panis Toyota (M) 25.264 59.224 1:19.697 + 0.825 4. (2) Alonso Renault (M) 25.481 60.279 1:21.293 + 2.421 5. (17) Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 25.416 60.650 1:21.350 + 2.478 6. (4) Trulli Renault (M) 25.728 60.711 1:21.496 + 2.624 7. (7) Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 25.235 59.389 1:21.639 + 2.767 8. (14) da Matta Toyota (M) 25.829 61.464 1:22.507 + 3.635 9. (18) Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 26.362 61.652 1:22.529 + 3.657 10. (19) Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 26.584 62.475 1:23.116 + 4.244 11. (6) Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 25.238 59.074 1:23.521 + 4.649 12. (3) Barrichello Ferrari (B) 25.107 64.062 1:24.817 + 5.945 13. (20) Sato BAR-Honda (M) 25.590 59.873 1:28.910 + 10.038 14. (1) M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 24.941 59.851 1:30.293 + 11.421 15. (8) Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 25.015 59.252 1:34.386 + 15.514 16. (10) Gene Williams-BMW (M) 24.879 66.847 1:34.981 + 16.109 17. (9) Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 25.584 60.174 1:35.853 + 16.981 18. (11) Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 25.986 60.967 1:38.648 + 19.776 19. (12) Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 24.815 70.915 No Time 20. (16) Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 26.192 65.616 No Time All timing unofficial