Free Practice 1: Barrichello on top

When the session started, overnight rain had left large amounts of water on the 3.065-mile Imola track, and teams had to go out on wet tyres, but as the session wore on, the track dried out and the times tumbled.

And in the dying moments of the session, teams opted to switch to slick tyres and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was the first to master the conditions, nicking in with a lap of 1m31.998 seconds just as the session finished. After a disappointing Brazilian Grand Prix, Barrichello needed a confidence boost, and fastest in the first timed session of the day could prove the tonic.

Earlier, Michael Schumacher seemed the most determined of the pack, blasting out of the pits almost as soon as the session started, and in an eight-lap stint he set a series of fastest laps on wet tyres. But the reigning world champion could not match his team mate right at the end when the track was at its driest, his fastest lap was 1.4 seconds slower than Barrichello.

The McLarens by comparison preferred to play things a little more quietly, not even going out on installation laps until 20 minutes into the session. Brazilian Grand Prix winner David Coulthard led the McLaren charge, but after bettering the Ferrari times with 20 minutes to go, the Scot went into the gravel at Acque Minerli. He was able to continue, but from then on team mate Mika Hakkinen took the fight to Ferrari. The Finn was on a quick lap just before the session ended, but his Mercedes-powered McLaren was held up in traffic and finished third, ahead of Coulthard but almost two seconds back from Barrichello's time.

For a while it seemed the best of the rest battle was between Honda stablemates Jordan and BAR. Jacques Villeneuve got as high as second with just 10 minutes of the session remaining, however the BARs faded at the end as their rival mastered the track - Jarno Trulli finished fifth quickest followed by Jordan team mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Frentzen's session was not without incident however, the German was among the three drivers who all spun at turn 17, just coming on to the pit straight. The water in the corner was taking longer to dry out than on the rest of the circuit.

The highest Michelin-shod car was the Jaguar of Eddie Irvine. The Ulsterman finished the session ninth quickest, just ahead of Jacques Villeneuve in the second Honda-powered BAR.

The Williams pair of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya did not set Imola on fire in the same way as they did in Brazil two weeks ago. The BMW-powered Williams cars had "Keep Your Distance!" stencilled on to their rear wings, a jokey reminder of their shunts from behind in the previous races. But Ralf could only manage the 14th quickest time, while Montoya was a further three places back in 17th.

Worst luck of the day though fell to Jos Verstappen in the Arrows. The Dutchman's Asiatech powered car broke down on his first lap out of the pits and he did not set a time.

For full results, click here.