Practice 1: Schuey fastest shock

Although Friday's free practice day is notoriously unreliable as a true guide to form, the indications are that Ferrari should not suffer from choosing to race last year's F2001 chassis rather than their new car at the first race of the season. World champion Schumacher was 0.3secs ahead of Barrichello, while the Brazilian was an impressive 2.5secs quicker than the best of the rest, Giancarlo Fisichella.

The weather created another variable to make the times less of a reliable guide. The hour-long session began with a wet track following rain showers, but by the end, the tarmac was good enough for dry tyres. That meant everyone improved in the final few minutes.

Behind Fisichella's Jordan and Ralf Schumacher's Williams came Sauber's new boy Felipe Massa, who will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Kimi Raikkonen by flying on his F1 debut. Raikkonen was only 17th in his first session for McLaren, but team-mate David Coulthard was even lower down the order in 20th.

Eddie Irvine was the top Brit in seventh, with Jenson Button 10th for Renault and rookie Allan McNish 14th for Toyota.

For full practice session 1 results, click here.