Coulthard heads morning practice

After Michael Schumacher led the way for Ferrari yesterday, McLaren returned to the fore on a circuit where the team has been a dominant force for the past two seasons.

David Coulthard headed team-mate Mika Hakkinen by 0.2s with Williams' Ralf Schumacher again shining to take third.

The older Schumacher was nearly a second slower than Coulthard in fourth place, ahead of Jacques Villeneuve's BAR, Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella and the lead Jordan of Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

The Arrows' of Jos Verstappen and Pedro de la Rosa led the way at first with identical lap times of 1m22.711s, but were pushed down to eighth and ninth as the faster cars got into their stride.

Practice resumes in half an hour.

Times from Saturday morning practice at Barcelona:

1 D Coulthard McLaren 1m21.370s
2 M Hakkinen McLaren 1m21.593s
3 R Schumacher Williams 1m21.604s
4 M Schumacher Ferrari 1m22.230s
5 J Villeneuve BAR 1m22.386s
6 G Fisichella Benetton 1m22.610s
7 H-H Frentzen Jordan 1m22.658s
8 J Verstappen Arrows 1m22.711s
9 P de la Rosa Arrows 1m22.711s
10 M Salo Sauber 1m22.749s
11 J Button Williams 1m22.793s
12 N Heidfeld Prost 1m22.810s
13 J Trulli Jordan 1m22.873s
14 R Barrichello Ferrari 1m23.143s
15 P Diniz Sauber 1m23.241s
16 J Alesi Prost 1m23.262s
17 A Wurz Benetton 1m23.268s
18 M Gene Minardi 1m23.644s
19 R Zonta BAR 1m24.098s
20 J Herbert Jaguar 1m24.468s
21 E Irvine Jaguar 1m24.505s
22 G Mazzacane Minardi 1m25.129s