Saturday First Free Practice - Malaysian GP

Briton David Coulthard topped the times in Saturday's opening free practice for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix as the lap times tumbled in the hot sunshine.

Coulthard, driving a McLaren Mercedes-Benz, clocked a best lap of one minute and 36.814 seconds to outstrip Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and triple world champion Michael Schumacher of Germany in their Ferraris by one-tenth and five-tenths of a second respectively.

All three drivers were inside Schumacher's pole time of 1:37.397 set last October.

The two Ferraris were immediately quickest in the session, but Coulthard clawed his way back and clocked his best lap in the closing stages of an uneventful 45 minutes running in the heat with few spectators in the grandstands.

Pos. Driver Team Times 1. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:36.814 206.115 km/h 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:37.004 + 0.190 3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:37.320 + 0.506 4. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:37.456 + 0.642 5. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:37.458 + 0.644 6. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:37.823 + 1.009 7. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:37.839 + 1.025 8. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:37.918 + 1.104 9. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:37.940 + 1.126 10. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:38.064 + 1.250 11. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:38.254 + 1.440 12. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:38.286 + 1.472 13. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:39.237 + 2.423 14. Burti Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:39.268 + 2.454 15. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:39.401 + 2.587 16. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:39.999 + 3.185 17. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:40.081 + 3.267 18. Mazzacane Prost Acer (M) 1:40.543 + 3.729 19. Alonso European Minardi (M) 1:40.667 + 3.853 20. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:40.759 + 3.945 21. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:41.630 + 4.816 22. Marques European Minardi (M) 1:42.042 + 5.228 All timing unofficial