Free practice 1: Barrichello fastest

Barrichello, who took his first and so far only GP victory at this race last year, posted a 1m41.953s lap of the 4.241-mile autodrome, but Pedro de la Rosa finished the session second, just 0.349s behind in his significantly-improved Jaguar R2.

With Eddie Irvine eighth fastest in the other Milton Keynes-based 'Big Cat', the form shown by the team at Monza testing proved to be no flash in the pan. The cars were running the new rear diffuser and suspension tweaks first seen at Silverstone a fortnight ago and fine-tuned in the Italian test last week.

David Coulthard, who comes to Hockenheim knowing nothing less than a victory will keep his title chances alive, was third fastest for McLaren-Mercedes, ahead of runaway world championship leader Michael Schumacher's Ferrari and the first of the Williams-BMWs - that of Ralf Schumacher.

Williams-BMW is expected to be a real force on the high-speed Hockenheim circuit, but it has started the weekend in its usual circumspect manner. Ralf was 1.034s off the ultimate pace, with his team mate Juan Pablo Montoya seventh overall and 1.259s off the benchmark. Silverstone winner Mika Hakkinen slotted in between them in the second of the McLarens.

Ninth fastest - get this! - was Fisichella. After a season of increasing familiarity with the back end of the grid, Benetton appears to have taken a significant step forward. The 1m43.894s lap was no fluke either, for the Italian was 10th for the final 15 minutes of the session, before banging in his final flier as the chequered flag fluttered. Sadly, his team mate Jenson Button occupied more usual territory, finishing 19th fastest, some two seconds slower, after spinning early in the session.

Jarno Trulli took over the mantle of team-leader at Jordan-Honda, following the sacking of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and completed the top 10 just a third of a second quicker than the 11th-placed Ricardo Zonta, his team mate for the weekend. Zonta has been warned by team boss Eddie Jordan that he must prove himself in Germany if he is to see out the season in his newly-acquired race seat. It was a good start.

For once, neither Sauber crept into the top 10, with Nick Heidfeld 12th and Kimi Raikkonen 13th, but it was a better showing than BAR-Honda, whose newly re-confirmed drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis could manage only 14th and 15th.

In the tyre war, it was honours even, with Michelin and Bridgestone both having five cars in the top 10. At the sharp end, Michelin boots the machines from Jaguar, Williams and Benetton, while the Japanese company supplies Ferarri, McLaren and Jordan.

A second hour-long free practice session is scheduled to begin at 12:00 BST (13:00 local).

For full results click here.