Friday Second Free Practice - European GP

by Will Gray

Briton David Coulthard led a McLaren-Mercedes resurgence around the Nurburgring in the second of Friday's practice session to claim the fastest time of the day in preparation for Sunday's European Grand Prix.

The Scot, who won in Monaco two races ago, held onto the top spot with a time of 1:31.886 despite a late charge from World Champion Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari that saw the German claim second position, just 0.155 seconds behind his rival.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen, also of McLaren-Mercedes, was third fastest in a session that saw eight different cars have off-track excursions in the overcast and cool conditions.

Schumacher is believed to have had the score between Germany and the USA in football's World Cup quarter finals sent to him on his two-way telemetry during the session and despite the distraction he was still almost a second faster than his fourth placed Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, in the first of the Williams-BMW cars, was fifth fastest with his German teammate Ralf Schumacher sixth as tyre suppliers Michelin claimed four of the top six places in conditions usually suited to their rivals Bridgestone.

Italian Jarno Trulli, in the Renault, was seventh fastest with teammate Jenson Button eighth. Finn Mika Salo, of Toyota, and Frenchman Olivier Panis, of British American Racing Honda completed the top ten runners.

Brazilian Felipe Massa struggled and finished down in 16th place after two mistakes saw him go off at turns six and three during the session. Jordan's Takuma Sato also left the track twice and ended in 12th spot.

Ulsterman Eddie Irvine had a terrible session and ended in a Minardi sandwich between 20th placed Mark Webber and Malaysian Alex Yoong, who finished bottom of the pile, 5.617 seconds off the pace after stopping out on track three quarters of the way through the session.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:31.886 201.537 km/h 35 2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:32.041 + 0.155 38 3. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:32.298 + 0.412 31 4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:32.969 + 1.083 39 5. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:33.122 + 1.236 35 6. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:33.179 + 1.293 39 7. Trulli Renault (M) 1:33.526 + 1.640 41 8. Button Renault (M) 1:33.708 + 1.822 46 9. Salo Toyota (M) 1:33.715 + 1.829 35 10. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:33.921 + 2.035 54 11. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:33.963 + 2.077 45 12. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:34.136 + 2.250 32 13. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:34.315 + 2.429 35 14. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:34.322 + 2.436 46 15. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:34.522 + 2.636 39 16. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 1:34.680 + 2.794 50 17. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:34.755 + 2.869 34 18. McNish Toyota (M) 1:34.941 + 3.055 38 19. Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:35.260 + 3.374 26 20. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:35.372 + 3.486 30 21. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:35.579 + 3.693 41 22. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:37.503 + 5.617 36 All Timing Unofficial