Saturday First Free Practice - European GP

Jenson Button continued BAR-Honda's strong form at the Nurburgring on Saturday morning when he finished fastest in the opening practice session of the day ahead of qualifying for Sunday's European Grand Prix.

Briton Button set a time of 1:29.485, slightly quicker than the run that put him second fastest on Friday, to finish 0.707 seconds ahead of German Ralf Schumacher's Williams-BMW.

Button's teammate Takuma Sato finished third fastest, 0.776 seconds behind, with Juan Pablo Montoya making it two Williams and two BARs in the top four as World Champion Michael Schumacher dropped to fifth in his Ferrari.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who topped the times on Friday for McLaren-Mercedes, finished sixth ahead of the Renault pair Jarno Trulli, of Italy, and Fernando Alonso, of Spain.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, in the second Ferrari, finished ninth fastest while Frenchman Olivier Panis completed the top ten in his Toyota, finishing 1.763 seconds off the lead pace.

Schumacher ran harmlessly wide during the session as he pushed for a faster time, as did his brother Ralf, and Scot David Coulthard failed to set a flying lap in his McLaren.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:29.485 11 2. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:30.192 + 0.707 7 3. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:30.261 + 0.776 7 4. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:30.369 + 0.884 11 5. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:30.418 + 0.933 10 6. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:30.532 + 1.047 5 7. Trulli Renault (M) 1:30.551 + 1.066 5 8. Alonso Renault (M) 1:30.600 + 1.115 5 9. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:30.681 + 1.196 5 10. Panis Toyota (M) 1:31.248 + 1.763 11 11. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:31.814 + 2.329 11 12. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:31.816 + 2.331 9 13. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:32.206 + 2.721 10 14. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:32.596 + 3.111 5 15. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:32.690 + 3.205 13 16. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:32.898 + 3.413 14 17. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 1:33.226 + 3.741 12 18. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:33.499 + 4.014 9 19. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:33.917 + 4.432 16 20. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) No Time 2 All timing unofficial