Saturday First Free Practice - Brazilian GP

McLaren drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard showed their Ferrari rivals that they are not about to give up the championship battle without a fight as they recorded the quickest times in Saturday's first practice session for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.

Hakkinen topped the times with a dominant display, while team-mate Coulthard was second to complete a morale-boosting one-two. Ferrari's world champion Michael Schumacher was left to settle for third, while his team-mate Rubens Barrichello was fifth.

Schumacher's younger brother Ralf beat Barrichello to fourth place in his BMW-Williams as all the teams prepared themselves for this afternoon's qualifying session.

Other incidents to note in the 45-minute session were a spin for Jaguar driver Luciano Burti, but he recovered, and the retirement from the session of Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella.

Pos. Driver Team Times 1. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:14.503 208.212 km/h 2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:14.656 + 0.153 3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:14.707 + 0.204 4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:15.024 + 0.521 5. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:15.032 + 0.529 6. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:15.047 + 0.544 7. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:15.163 + 0.660 8. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:15.275 + 0.772 9. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:15.633 + 1.130 10. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:15.833 + 1.330 11. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:16.035 + 1.532 12. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:16.114 + 1.611 13. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:16.135 + 1.632 14. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:16.702 + 2.199 15. Burti Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:16.773 + 2.270 16. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:16.828 + 2.325 17. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:16.835 + 2.332 18. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:17.192 + 2.689 19. Mazzacane Prost Acer (M) 1:17.209 + 2.706 20. Alonso European Minardi (M) 1:17.433 + 2.930 21. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:17.860 + 3.357 22. Marques European Minardi (M) 1:18.212 + 3.709 All timing unofficial