Free practice 1: Barrichello quickest

Barrichello set his time on intermediate tyres when the damp conditions were at their best. A heavy rain shower with 10 minutes to go meant the times were relatively static after a mid-session flurry. Button (Renault) and David Coulthard (McLaren) gave what few fans there were in the grandstands something to shout about with the second and third fastest times respectively.

Schumacher was the talk of the session, however, as the usually faultless German committed the cardinal sin of spinning off on his out lap. He was evaluating intermediate tyres when he spun on the exit of the right-hand element of the Abbey chicane. He just avoided hitting the wall, but stalled his engine and he was forced to alight and watch the session from a marshal's chair the inside of Bridge bend.

When asked what happened, Schumacher replied: "I think you could see that from the TV."

Takuma Sato was next to visit the scenery, the Japanese driver understeering his Jordan-Honda on to the grass at Vale, a feat later repeated twice by team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella and Sauber's Felipe Massa. The latter then did the job properly and beached himself in the Abbey gravel with 15 minutes of the session remaining.

Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa went straight on into the gravel trap at Stowe but, thanks to all the rain Silverstone has had this week, he had no problem getting out and cruised back to the pits. Williams-BMW's weekend got off to a bad start when Juan Pablo Montoya blew an engine after just six laps, causing more alarm bells to ring about the German engine's reliability.

The rain meant the teams were more concerned with evaluating tyre performance more than anything. Michelin, which has historically struggled in wet conditions, has a new rain tyre at Silverstone of which Renault's Jarno Trulli said: "Michelin has made some good progress in that area, even if we are a little behind. We have a new tyre here, but it's not as good as the step we expect to take in the near future."

Kimi Raikkonen made it two McLarens in the top four, ahead of Eddie Irvine's Jaguar that features a revised aero package this weekend. Irvine spun at Brooklands when the rain began to fall heavily, while team-mate de la Rosa was seventh quickest, just behind Jordan's Fisichella. Jacques Villeneuve (BAR), Sato and Nick Heidfeld (Sauber) rounded out the top 10.

Neither Arrows car took part in the session, which means they are unlikely to be seen on track today. Team boss Tom Walkinshaw was understood to have been in a meeting with F1 guru Bernie Ecclestone during the session to discuss his current financial plight.