Saturday First Free Practice - German GP

Newly-crowned World Champion Michael Schumacher continued to delight the packed grandstands at an overcast and rather gloomy Hockenheim circuit, when he scorched to the fastest time of Saturday's first practice session for the German Grand Prix.

German Schumacher, who could score a record-equalling ninth win this season if he takes victory in front of his home crowd in Sunday's race, finished at the head of the third Ferrari one-two in as many practice sessions.

But his efforts on the re-designed circuit were not without error as he pushed his Ferrari to its limits and overstepped them with a half-spin as he exited the final corner towards the end of the session and ran over the kerbs to abort the lap.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was 0.122 seconds behind the Ferrari leader with the Italian team showing their immediate mastery of the new circuit, as third placed Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya failed to get within half a second of Schumacher's time in his Williams-BMW.

Barrichello too had problems in the dying seconds of the session, when he lost control of his Ferrari as he exited the final corner and spun lightly into the wall to leave him walking back to the pits and his car returning on a trailer.

German Ralf Schumacher, in the second Williams-BMW, was fourth fastest, with Briton David Coulthard fifth for McLaren-Merecedes and Brazilian Felipe Massa, of Sauber, completing the top six.

Briton Jenson Button had a heavier spin, hitting the wall after the first corner on the new section of the circuit, while his Renault teammate Jarno Trulli also spun but returned to the pits.

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, of Jordan, was seventh, with Olivier Panis eighth for BAR, Nick Heidfeld ninth in the second Sauber, and Japan's Takuma Sato securing the final place in the top ten in the second Jordan.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:15.337 218.570 km/h 12 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:15.459 + 0.122 15 3. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:15.893 + 0.556 14 4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:16.020 + 0.683 13 5. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:16.707 + 1.370 12 6. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 1:16.762 + 1.425 14 7. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:16.806 + 1.469 14 8. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:16.839 + 1.502 19 9. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:16.996 + 1.659 6 10. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:17.094 + 1.757 13 11. Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:17.258 + 1.921 14 12. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:17.375 + 2.038 16 13. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:17.485 + 2.148 7 14. Salo Toyota (M) 1:17.764 + 2.427 12 15. Button Renault (M) 1:17.825 + 2.488 10 16. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:17.870 + 2.533 10 17. Trulli Renault (M) 1:18.050 + 2.713 10 18. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:18.092 + 2.755 16 19. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:18.112 + 2.775 16 20. McNish Toyota (M) 1:18.156 + 2.819 14 21. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:18.871 + 3.534 17 22. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:20.314 + 4.977 17 All Timing Unofficial