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Saturday First Free Practice - Hungarian GP

Spaniard Fernando Alonso continued Renault's impressive form to top the times in Saturday's first practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix but the session was marred by a huge crash that saw Jordan driver Ralph Firman flown to hospital.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso continued Renault's impressive form to top the times in Saturday's first practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix but the session was marred by a huge crash that saw Jordan driver Ralph Firman flown to hospital.

The session was stopped for half an hour after Firman lost control of his car when the rear wing flew off and he careered into the barriers at a speed of around 240 km/h at turn five.

The practice was re-started for 15 minutes and Alonso set a time of 1:22.950 to finish 0.324 seconds ahead of World Champion Michael Schumacher, in the Ferrari, as temperatures rose to 30 degrees.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was third fastest in the second Ferrari with German Ralf Schumacher, of Williams-BMW, fourth and Italian Jarno Trulli fifth in the second Renault.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya finished sixth in the second Williams-BMW with Olivier Panis and Mark Webber, of Toyota and Jaguar respectively, ensuring Michelin runners filled six of the top eight places.

The Bridgestone-shod Sauber pair of Germans Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Nick Heidfeld completed the top ten in what was a shortened session to ensure the second practice ran on time.

Scot David Coulthard, who like his teammate Kimi Raikkonen finished well out of the top ten, narrowly escaped hitting the barriers late in the session and Ralf Schumacher also had a small spin during the session.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Renault (M) 1:22.950 190.264 km/h 7 2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:23.274 + 0.324 12 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:23.432 + 0.482 12 4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:23.758 + 0.808 15 5. Trulli Renault (M) 1:23.796 + 0.846 9 6. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:24.142 + 1.192 16 7. Panis Toyota (M) 1:24.251 + 1.301 14 8. Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:24.328 + 1.378 10 9. Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:24.617 + 1.667 9 10. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:24.734 + 1.784 10 11. Wilson Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:24.800 + 1.850 12 12. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:24.837 + 1.887 10 13. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:25.379 + 2.429 11 14. Button BAR Honda (B) 1:25.397 + 2.447 11 15. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:25.545 + 2.595 16 16. Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 1:25.566 + 2.616 6 17. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:25.815 + 2.865 19 18. Firman Jordan Ford (B) 1:26.618 + 3.668 6 19. Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:26.976 + 4.026 8 20. Kiesa Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:27.188 + 4.238 11 All Timing Unofficial

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