Free practice 2: Kimi heads Coulthard

All of the other usual suspects hit trouble: Michael Schumacher didn't do a single lap; Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked his Williams after a trip over the gravel; and Ralf Schumacher also spun but without damage.

Perfect weather conditions greeted the drivers as they made their way onto the track for the second session, which unlike the first saw a flurry of activity from the off. Having missed most of the opening 60 minutes when his car stopped on track, it was no surprise that BAR's Olivier Panis was at the head of the queue.

The Frenchman wasted no time in moving himself up the order too, and the best of his opening efforts was good enough for a temporary seventh place. Juan Pablo Montoya set a new mark for the final sector early on, but his overall time was only enough for fourth.

Ralf Schumacher was also pushing hard and the German had a quick spin as he exited the second Degner Curve just before the Crossover. He went through a full 360 degrees without hitting anything and went on to join the drivers in the 1m36s bracket, just a few hundredths behind Barrichello.

Felipe Massa made a brief appearance in the top six, only to be demoted when Kimi Raikkonen gave Ferrari something to think about with a lap of 1m34.232s. David Coulthard followed his team-mate into the 1m34s, albeit half a second back.

Montoya snatched third with a sub-1m36s effort at the half way stage, but was quickly demoted as Barrichello initiated the Ferrari fightback with a 1m35.717s. However, the Brazilian was leading a sole charge as Michael Schumacher was confined to the pits after his F2002 developed a hydraulic problem.

With less than five minutes remaining Montoya had a rude awakening when he understeered off at the first Degner Curve and ploughed into the tyre barrier at speed. The left side and rear off his car sustained heavy cosmetic damaged in the impact, but the Colombian was unharmed, if rather sheepish looking when he steeped from the car.

The Williams driver would have to settle for fourth, one place ahead of his team-mate. Michael slipped to sixth, and was only narrowly ahead of Eddie Irvine who continued Jaguar's strong showing from the first session. Pedro de la Rosa made it two R3s in the top eight, while Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella rounded out the top 10.

Frantic work by Jacques Villeneuve's BAR mechanics allowed the Canadian to take part in the final 11 minutes of the session, despite his car being heavily damaged in his earlier shunt. The former champion needed the track time too, as he was 20th and last when he embarked on his first run. He improved his time greatly, but only advanced to 19th, demoting Alex Yoong to the foot of the times.

The Malaysian was quicker than team-mate Mark Webber earlier in the session, but his running was curtailed when he brought his Minardi back to the pits with flames licking out from under the rear of the car. This was quickly extinguished, as were his hopes if taking any further part in the session.

Jenson Button was 12th, Allan McNish 14th. Takuma Sato had a quick spin and was sandwiched by the Brits in 13th.