Practice 2: Wow - it's Alesi!

The French-Sicillian veteran, who will start his 201st and last race on Sunday, lapped the figure-of-eight circuit in 1m35.454s, four-tenths up on last year's pole time. In fairytale style, he was half a second clear of Williams-BMW's Juan Pablo Montoya, and deserved every bit of the applause he received from the Japanese fans, although team boss Eddie Jordan opined that he "can go quicker". A late session spin proved that he probably couldn't...

Pedro de la Rosa was a surprise third quickest for Jaguar, backed up by Suzuka expert team mate Eddie Irvine in sixth. Along with Alesi, fourth quickest Mika Hakkinen (McLaren) was the only other Bridgestone runner in the top six. Heinz-Harald Frentzen also raised eyebrows with his pace in the one-hour session for Prost, and finished fifth fastest.

World champion Michael Schumacher - who set the pace in the opening session - was a lowly eighth, with Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello languishing in 10th. David Coulthard (McLaren) was seventh, but suffered brake problems (they caught fire in the pits) and an off into the Turn 2 gravel trap. Ralf Schumacher's Williams-BMW was ninth fastest after a particularly uninspired session.

Both Benettons were in the wars, as Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button appeared to grenade engines during the session. Button in particular was forced to make a hasty exit from his car after a spectacular display of pyrotechnics.

The session was halted after 30 minutes when Nick Heidfeld went off in the trick S Curves section, wrecking his Sauber-Petronas against the tyrewall and ending up in the middle of circuit in a smoky mess. He was uninjured.

For a full list of today's practice times, click here.