Friday Second Free Practice - Malaysian GP

Kimi Raikkonen gave his McLaren-Mercedes team a welcome boost in preparation for the Malaysian Grand Prix when he finished on top of the timesheets in Friday's second practice session.

McLaren had drawn widespread criticism after Raikkonen failed to finish the season-opening Australian Grand Prix earlier this month and his teammate David Coulthard claimed just one point for eighth place.

But in searing heat that saw track temperatures rise to 50 degrees Celsius Finn Raikkonen's time of 1:34.395 showed there may be a chance that Ferrari's all-dominant performance in Australia can be overturned.

He finished 0.699 seconds ahead of German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, who ended up fourth, as he topped the session by 0.298 seconds from Williams-BMW driver German Ralf Schumacher.

Australian Mark Webber was third in the Jaguar with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya fifth, the two Renaults of Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Italy's Jarno Trulli sixth and eighth, split by Sauber driver Felipe Massa of Brazil.

Raikkonen's Scottish teammate Coulthard was ninth with Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, almost a second off the pace in the second Ferrari, rounding out the top ten. Coulthard spun at turn 11 soon after the start of the session and Sato then damaged his car without completing a lap when he was pitched into the barrier at turn four after something at the rear of his car appeared to fail.

Brazilian Cristiano da Matta also had a spectacular spin at turn 14 and although he avoided any damage he was forced to abandon his Toyota after it became stuck in the gravel trap. Ralf Schumacher led the times with a little over half the session gone with Raikkonen in second 0.330 seconds behind the Williams-BMW driver, Mark Webber third and Michael Schumacher fourth.

With ten minutes to go, Raikkonen leapfrogged Schumacher and climbed to the top of the times by just less than three tenths of a second. Michael Schumacher failed to better on his next run and Barrichello spun trying to do the same.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:34.395 211.397 km/h 17 2. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:34.693 + 0.298 24 3. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:35.054 + 0.659 20 4. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:35.094 + 0.699 22 5. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:35.100 + 0.705 23 6. Trulli Renault (M) 1:35.115 + 0.720 20 7. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:35.288 + 0.893 21 8. Alonso Renault (M) 1:35.300 + 0.905 20 9. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:35.301 + 0.906 13 10. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:35.373 + 0.978 19 11. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:35.407 + 1.012 19 12. Panis Toyota (M) 1:35.524 + 1.129 19 13. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:35.850 + 1.455 27 14. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:35.996 + 1.601 19 15. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:36.292 + 1.897 6 16. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:36.353 + 1.958 28 17. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:36.708 + 2.313 5 18. Wirdheim Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:36.883 + 2.488 21 19. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:36.907 + 2.512 7 20. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:37.725 + 3.330 19 21. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:37.818 + 3.423 19 22. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:38.588 + 4.193 10 23. Glock Jordan-Ford (B) 1:38.796 + 4.401 27 24. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 1:39.324 + 4.929 16 25. Leinders Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:41.485 + 7.090 23 All timing unofficial