Practice 1: Schuey's Suzuka stroll

The German whirled around the testing, figure-of-eight Suzuka track in 1m37.443s with a handy advantage over McLaren's Hakkinen, who could be starting his last Grand Prix this weekend should his sabbatical turn into retirement next year.

If anyone was in doubt of Juan Pablo Montoya's star quality, the Colombian underlined it once again today. The Suzuka virgin got to grips with the 3.644-mile track during the one-hour session in superb style in his Williams-BMW, winding up just half a second slower than Schumacher's quickest time in third.

Rubens Barrichello was fourth for Ferrari as he chases his slim chances of gaining the runner-up spot in the world championship. His rival, McLaren's David Coulthard, was sixth fastest after losing time to an electrical problem early on.

Jordan's Jean Alesi was in fine form as he begins his farewell Grand Prix, ending the session fifth fastest, 1.2secs quicker than team mate Jarno Trulli. Ralf Schumacher (Williams) was seventh, ahead of Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Prost), Pedro de la Rosa (Jaguar) and Nick Heidfeld (Sauber).

The session was red flagged just seconds before the end, as Tomas Enge flew off the circuit in his Prost at the infamous, 165mph 130R bend. He lost control of the rear of his car at the apex and plunged head-long into the tyrewall, ripping both right-hand corners from the car. Fortunately Czechs can bounce, so he walked away unscathed, but left Alain Prost with another expensive repair bill - good thing it's the end of the season, really.

Both Ferrari and Williams used brake light systems on their cars in this morning's practice session. The rear light of the car is illuminated both when the driver presses the brake pedal and when the car decelerates by a certain amount.

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