Friday First Free Practice - Australian GP

Ferrari's World Champion Michael Schumacher hammered out a warning to his Formula One rivals on Friday with a lightning lap in the first practice session of the season.

With new regulations forcing drivers to stick with one engine all weekend, the German limited his running to a total of four laps of the Australian Grand Prix circuit.

The six-times Champion's lap of 1:25.127 seconds on an overcast morning was still comfortably inside the pole record of 1:25.843 set by Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello in Ferrari's dominant 2002 season.

Barrichello, who did nine laps but ran wide into the dirt on one of them, was second quickest with Renault's Italian Jarno Trulli third on the timesheets, 1.898 seconds behind Schumacher.

The usual suspects dominated the top 10 in a session that saw all race drivers greatly limit their mileage to preserve their engines. Differing fuel strategies may also have affected the times.

Briton David Coulthard, last year's winner for McLaren, was fourth quickest after five laps while Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was sixth ahead of Williams team mate Ralf Schumacher.

Finland's Kimi Raikkonen, a title contender after finishing last year as runner-up, was 12th quickest with just five laps under his belt.

For the first time, all but the top four teams were allowed to run a third car with a test driver at the wheel.

Jordan, Toyota, BAR and Jaguar took advantage of the opportunity while Minardi had their application for a super licence for Belgian Bas Leinders turned down.

BAR's Briton Anthony Davidson was the only test driver to break into the top 10, finishing the session ninth quickest and ahead of Australian hope Mark Webber in a Jaguar.

Ferrari-powered Sauber, the other team allowed to run a third car, had just Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and Brazilian Felipe Massa in action although the latter failed to set a time after pulling over with four minutes on the clock.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:25.127 224.263 Km/h 4 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:25.361 + 0.234 9 3. Trulli Renault (M) 1:27.025 + 1.898 10 4. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:27.264 + 2.137 5 5. Alonso Renault (M) 1:27.359 + 2.232 14 6. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:27.462 + 2.335 12 7. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:27.675 + 2.548 11 8. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:27.867 + 2.740 7 9. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:27.921 + 2.794 25 10. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:28.089 + 2.962 6 11. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:28.118 + 2.991 17 12. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:28.233 + 3.106 5 13. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:28.874 + 3.747 6 14. Panis Toyota (M) 1:28.955 + 3.828 11 15. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:29.120 + 3.993 6 16. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:29.169 + 4.042 12 17. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:29.826 + 4.699 11 18. Wirdheim Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:30.033 + 4.906 23 19. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:30.046 + 4.919 7 20. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 1:30.100 + 4.973 18 21. Glock Jordan-Ford (B) 1:31.626 + 6.499 11 22. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:32.886 + 7.759 14 23. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:33.236 + 8.109 8 24. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) No Time 1 All timing unofficial