Saturday First Free Practice - Belgian GP

World Champion Michael Schumacher scorched back to the top of the timesheets in Spa on this morning with a lap that set him 0.888 seconds clear of the rest of the field, in practice for the Belgian Grand Prix.

After finishing third in Friday's practice, the dominant German returned to his usual position at the head of the field with a blistering lap of 1:44.951 seconds as conditions warmed in the Ardennes forest.

Schumacher, who completed just seven laps, finished ahead of his Brazilian Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello, who managed one lap more but could not get close to the lead pace.

The McLaren-Mercedes pair of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard, who had claimed first and second fastest times in Friday's practice, trailed Barrichello in third and fourth respectively.

Raikkonen was 1.402 seconds slower than the leading Ferrari, Coulthard was 1.642 seconds behind and Ralf Schumacher, of Williams-BMW, was fifth, 1.936 seconds off the pace. Those five were the only drivers to finish within two seconds of Schumacher's impressive time.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was sixth for Williams-BMW, with Scot Allan McNish a surprise seventh in the Toyota and Frenchman Olivier Panis eighth in the leading British American Racing Honda.

Jenson Button was ninth for Renault, with Giancarlo Fisichella completing the top ten in his Jordan.

Schumacher, who had topped the times on his first run of the session, improved his earlier best with just seconds of the first practice to go, but it still left Minardi looking fast enough to get into the race.

Australian Mark Webber finished 5.856 seconds off the pace, more than 1.4 seconds slower than new teammate Anthony Davidson, but Schumacher's time left the pair needing to get within only 7.2 seconds of the pace - although he is bound to go faster in qualifying.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:44.951 239.014 km/h 7 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:45.839 + 0.888 8 3. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:46.353 + 1.402 5 4. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:46.593 + 1.642 10 5. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:46.887 + 1.936 10 6. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:47.276 + 2.325 10 7. McNish Toyota (M) 1:47.670 + 2.719 12 8. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:47.702 + 2.751 13 9. Button Renault (M) 1:47.732 + 2.781 12 10. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:47.826 + 2.875 8 11. Trulli Renault (M) 1:47.896 + 2.945 12 12. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:48.032 + 3.081 12 13. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:48.142 + 3.191 9 14. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 1:48.413 + 3.462 9 15. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:48.420 + 3.469 9 16. Salo Toyota (M) 1:48.593 + 3.642 11 17. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:48.760 + 3.809 12 18. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:48.784 + 3.833 11 19. Davidson Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:49.386 + 4.435 11 20. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:50.807 + 5.856 6 All Timing Unofficial