Friday Free Practice - British GP

David Coulthard gave himself a boost on home soil at Silverstone this morning when he finished fastest for McLaren-Mercedes in the first practice session for the British Grand Prix.

Scot Coulthard set a late lap as the chequered flag dropped to jump to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1:20.039. Australian Mark Webber, who also left it late in the session to set his time, was 0.307 seconds back in second.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who benefited from two extra hours of running in the earlier private testing session, had led the session until the dying seconds but eventually dropped to third, 0.446 seconds behind Coulthard.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, who finished fourth, stopped out on the circuit with ten minutes to go, preventing him from trying to better his time as his World Champion teammate Michael Schumacher languished in ninth place.

Frenchman Olivier Panis finished fifth for Toyota, with Italian Jarno Trulli, in the second Renault, sixth. Briton Jenson Button was seventh for BAR-Honda and Antonio Pizzonia was eighth in the second Jaguar.

Brazilian Cristiano da Matta completed the top ten while Williams-BMW pair Ralf Schumacher, of Germany, and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya were 11th and 12th with McLaren-Mercedes' Finn Kimi Raikkonen down in 14th.

The only spinners in the session were Ralph Firman, who ended up 17th fastest in his Jordan after losing control in the complex, and Trulli, who spun his Renault out of Abbey but was able to continue.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:20.039 231.232 km/h 21 2. Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:20.346 + 0.307 17 3. Alonso Renault (M) 1:20.485 + 0.446 17 4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:20.604 + 0.565 22 5. Panis Toyota (M) 1:20.693 + 0.654 20 6. Trulli Renault (M) 1:20.858 + 0.819 19 7. Button BAR Honda (B) 1:20.933 + 0.894 23 8. Pizzonia Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:20.966 + 0.927 14 9. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:20.992 + 0.953 27 10. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:21.027 + 0.988 23 11. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:21.029 + 0.990 23 12. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:21.182 + 1.143 26 13. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:21.246 + 1.207 24 14. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:21.407 + 1.368 21 15. Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:21.969 + 1.930 20 16. Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 1:22.028 + 1.989 14 17. Firman Jordan Ford (B) 1:22.135 + 2.096 18 18. Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:23.176 + 3.137 15 19. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:23.290 + 3.251 25 20. Wilson Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:24.086 + 4.047 9 All Timing Unofficial