Friday Second Free Practice - British GP

McLaren exerted their usual Friday dominance after being heavily beaten by Ferrari in the first session of the day by claiming the top two times of Friday's practice for the British Grand Prix. But as Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard blew away the opposition to head the timesheets, Michael Schumacher's chances of overhauling his rivals were scuppered by rain late in the session.

Coulthard was just 0.067 seconds behind his teammate, but Rubens Barrichello was the closest man to the McLarens, some 0.751 seconds off Hakkinen's fastest time. Barrichello was closely matched by his teammate Schumacher, who was fourth, and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen once again the best of the rest, one second off the lead pace.

Minardi's Fernando Alonso was the first man out in the second session, but there was little action until Jacques Villeneuve steered his British American Racing car off the circuit at Copse. However, the McLaren pair were keen to overturn Ferrari's dominance of the first session, and once again the silver and black cars moved to the head of the timesheets.

David Coulthard this time had a half second advantage over his teammate Mika Hakkinen, as the pair pushed Ferrari rival Schumacher down to third. With half the session gone the order remained the same, with Barrichello completing the top two team's dominance once again and Heinz-Harald Frentzen closing in, now just less than a second behind.

Alonso spun in a plume of smoke to become the second car to have difficulty getting through Copse, but carried on to return to the pits, although he damaged the rear of his car. Barrichello overhauled Schumacher to push the German champion down to third, but a threatening cloud then came over the Silverstone circuit to prevent any further improvements in time.

Nick Heidfeld claimed sixth for Sauber, and Pedro de la Rosa recovered from his failure in the first session to set seventh fastest for Jaguar as the team tried a new drooped front wing. Fernando Alonso spun out as he caught the kerb when he headed onto the Hangar Straight, and with the grass now slippery and offering no traction due to the rain, he was unable to continue.

Pos Driver Team Times 1. Hakkinen Mclaren Mercedes (B) 1:22.827 223.449 km/h 2. Coulthard Mclaren Mercedes (B) 1:22.894 + 0.067 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:23.578 + 0.751 4. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:23.619 + 0.792 5. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:23.877 + 1.050 6. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:24.096 + 1.269 7. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:24.116 + 1.289 8. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:24.222 + 1.395 9. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:24.343 + 1.516 10. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:24.387 + 1.560 11. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:24.436 + 1.609 12. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:24.562 + 1.735 13. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:24.733 + 1.906 14. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:24.832 + 2.005 15. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:25.026 + 2.199 16. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:25.209 + 2.382 17. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:25.267 + 2.440 18. Burti Prost Acer (M) 1:25.448 + 2.621 19. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:25.673 + 2.846 20. Alonso Minardi European (M) 1:26.695 + 3.868 21. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:26.730 + 3.903 22. Marques Minardi European (M) 1:27.203 + 4.376 All Timing Unofficial