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Friday Free Practice - German GP

David Coulthard set aside speculation over his Formula One future to top the times for McLaren-Mercedes in the first practice session for the German Grand Prix on Friday.

David Coulthard set aside speculation over his Formula One future to top the times for McLaren-Mercedes in the first practice session for the German Grand Prix on Friday.

Scot Coulthard, who is now expected to stay at McLaren for another year despite being consistently outpaced by his teammate Kimi Raikkonen this season, finished with a time of 1:15.523 to lead the field.

He finished just 0.094 seconds faster than Italian Jarno Trulli, in the Renault, who was also fastest in a Renault top three in the earlier morning testing session.

Trulli's Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso finished third fastest two tenths of a second further back with Australian Mark Webber, in the leading Jaguar, in an impressive fourth place.

He set his new teammate Justin Wilson a tough target but the Briton managed a respectable ninth place, seven tenths of a second slower after just two hours of previous testing.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya finished fifth fastest in the leading Williams-BMW, his teammate Ralf Schumacher finishing eighth with Brazilian Cristiano da Matta, of Toyota, and Briton Jenson Button, of BAR-Honda, between the pair.

Frenchman Olivier Panis completed the top ten for Toyota while World Champion Michael Schumacher was 11th fastest for Ferrari and his closest Championship challenger Finn Kimi Raikkonen was 15th in the second McLaren.

Schumacher was one of two drivers to spin during the session, the Ferrari driver losing control of his car at turn six and Dutchman Jos Verstappen spinning his Minardi at turn one within a minute of each other.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:15.523 218.032 km/h 22 2. Trulli Renault (M) 1:15.617 + 0.094 11 3. Alonso Renault (M) 1:15.797 + 0.274 9 4. Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:15.799 + 0.276 25 5. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:15.890 + 0.367 23 6. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:16.109 + 0.586 28 7. Button BAR Honda (B) 1:16.187 + 0.664 26 8. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:16.401 + 0.878 24 9. Wilson Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:16.568 + 1.045 21 10. Panis Toyota (M) 1:16.602 + 1.079 21 11. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:16.814 + 1.291 30 12. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:16.945 + 1.422 24 13. Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 1:17.050 + 1.527 17 14. Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:17.137 + 1.614 23 15. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:17.284 + 1.761 23 16. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:17.361 + 1.838 25 17. Firman Jordan Ford (B) 1:17.842 + 2.319 19 18. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:18.121 + 2.598 26 19. Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:18.791 + 3.268 11 20. Kiesa Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:19.030 + 3.507 15 All Timing Unofficial

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