Saturday First Free Practice

Michael Schumacher was in dominant form on Saturday, as he topped the times in the first practice session ahead of qualifying for the French Grand Prix.

Schumacher posted a quickest lap time of 1:13.729 seconds to top the times by almost half a second from McLaren ace and closest title challenger David Coulthard.

Coulthard produced just one flying lap after choosing to sit out much of the session, while his teammate Mika Hakkinen failed to complete a competitive lap despite no problems with his car.

Schumacher's brother Ralf was third quickest for Williams while his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya was fifth behind Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello.

Jordan's Jarno Trulli and Heinz-Harald Frentzen ended sixth and seventh fastest respectively ahead of British American Racing pair Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve, while Sauber's Kimi Raikkonen completed the top-ten in an incident-free session.

Pos Driver Team Times 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:13.729 207.566 km/h 2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:14.135 + 0.406 3. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:14.932 + 1.203 4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:15.044 + 1.315 5. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:15.712 + 1.983 6. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:15.787 + 2.058 7. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:15.866 + 2.137 8. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:15.868 + 2.139 9. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:15.931 + 2.202 10. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:16.053 + 2.324 11. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:16.195 + 2.466 12. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:16.463 + 2.734 13. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:16.897 + 3.168 14. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:16.949 + 3.220 15. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:16.958 + 3.229 16. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:17.140 + 3.411 17. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:17.313 + 3.584 18. Burti Prost Acer (M) 1:17.341 + 3.612 19. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:17.445 + 3.716 20. Alonso Minardi European (M) 1:17.940 + 4.211 21. Marques Minardi European (M) 1:18.107 + 4.378 Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) No Time All Timing Unofficial