Friday First Free Practice - Japanese GP

World Champion Michael Schumacher mastered wet conditions to finish fastest in opening practice for the Japanese Grand Prix after heavy rain soaked the Suzuka circuit ahead of an expected typhoon on Saturday.

Drivers stayed in the garages for much of the session as the rain continued to pour down on the circuit but a flurry of activity late in the session saw 17 of the 25 drivers set a lap time.

Ferrari's Schumacher set his time of 1:47.906 with some ten minutes to go and he finished 0.456 seconds ahead of second-placed Italian Giancarlo Fisichella in the Sauber.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello made it a Ferrari one-three with Briton Jenson Button fourth for BAR-Honda and German Nick Heidfeld in an unfamiliar fifth place for Jordan thanks in part to their Bridgestone tyres.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth fastest for McLaren-Mercedes with German Timo Glock, in the second Jordan, seventh and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya eighth in the lead Williams-BMW.

Dutch test driver Robert Doornbos, in the third Jordan, finished ninth fastest to leave six Bridgestone runners in the top nine and Spaniard Fernando Alonso completed the top ten for Renault.

Italian Jarno Trulli, who is making his race debut for Toyota this weekend after switching from Renault, was the first driver to complete a full lap with a time of 2:11.052 after 37 minutes of the one-hour session.

His compatriot Fisichella went faster but Schumacher then sliced more than seven seconds off the Sauber driver's pace to leave him around 20 seconds slower than the lap record set in dry conditions.

Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner spun his Minardi and continued but Brazilian Felipe Massa lost control of his Sauber on his late flying lap and crashed gently into the barriers at the Degner Curve.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:47.906 5 2. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:48.362 + 0.456 8 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:49.846 + 1.940 4 4. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:49.937 + 2.031 5 5. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:51.438 + 3.532 7 6. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:51.530 + 3.624 5 7. Glock Jordan-Ford (B) 1:52.602 + 4.696 8 8. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:53.517 + 5.611 4 9. Doornbos Jordan-Ford (B) 1:53.603 + 5.697 10 10. Alonso Renault (M) 1:54.012 + 6.106 4 11. Leinders Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:55.455 + 7.549 10 12. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:55.632 + 7.726 5 13. Villeneuve Renault (M) 1:57.547 + 9.641 5 14. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:58.351 + 10.445 10 15. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 2:00.712 + 12.806 4 16. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 2:02.825 + 14.919 5 17. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 2:03.955 + 16.049 7 18. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) No Time 3 19. Sato BAR-Honda (M) No Time 1 20. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) No Time 3 21. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) No Time 2 22. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) No Time 3 23. Panis Toyota (M) No Time 1 24. Wirdheim Jaguar-Cosworth (M) No Time 25. Briscoe Toyota (M) No Time All timing unofficial