Free Practice 2: DC goes fastest

With Kimi Raikkonen ending the day in sixth place it was a marked change of form for the team, but with the Williams' of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher sitting comfortably in second and fourth respectively, the champagne has not yet been put on ice in the McLaren garage.

Coulthard's best lap of 1m15.075s is still some way short of last year's pole, and the number of spinners showed the track surface is yet to get a good coat of rubber. Michael Schumacher was the 2001 polesitter, but despite topping the times in the first session, the world champion was back in fifth place in the second.

Indeed he was lucky not to damage Ferrari's new F2002 after spinning off at Turn 1 midway through the session. The German got slightly sideways under braking for the second gear left hander, but looked to have it all under control. However, the car was pitched to the right after hitting one of Interlagos' notorious bumps and he was helpless to prevent it sliding off the track. Luckily he came to a halt with the rear wing just resting against the barriers and apparently undamaged.

Rubens Barrichello's Brazilian nightmare continued, although he did managed to set a proper lap time. Once again the local favourite found himself in the gravel, and back in seventh spot.

Allan McNish was the surprise of the session, hauling the impressive Toyota TF102 up to third place, less than a tenth behind Montoya. Jenson Button continued his revival and was eighth quickest, but team-mate Jarno Trulli was out of luck, his car expiring at the end of the pitlane after he'd done just a handful of laps. This dropped him back to a lowly 21st place.

The beleaguered BAR and Jaguar teams both had cars in the top 10, with Jacques Villeneuve ninth and Pedro de la Rosa 10th fastest. The Saubers were unusually far down the order in 17th and 18th, but expect the positions to be reversed in qualifying tomorrow.

For full results, click here.