Saturday First Free Practice - Spanish GP

Michael Schumacher started his qualifying preparations in perfect fashion in Saturday's opening practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya, as he made a return to the top of the timesheets.

Schumacher enjoyed a trouble-free session along with his fellow drivers as he posted the quickest lap time of 1:18.634 seconds - over two seconds faster than the 2000 pole time.

The Ferrari driver was also more than half-a-second quicker than second-placed Mika Hakkinen, with David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello in third and fourth respectively.

Hakkinen ran onto the gravel during the session but returned to the track without an problem.

European Minardi driver Tarso Marques was the slowest man on track and is nearly six seconds slower than Schumacher. He is also outside the 107 per cent mark that he will be required to get inside in qualifying.

Pos Driver Team Times 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:18.634 216.548 km/h 2. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:19.281 + 0.647 3. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:19.363 + 0.729 4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:19.363 + 0.729 5. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:19.827 + 1.193 6. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:19.903 + 1.269 7. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:20.042 + 1.408 8. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:20.469 + 1.835 9. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:20.527 + 1.893 10. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:20.689 + 2.055 11. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:20.855 + 2.221 12. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:21.289 + 2.655 13. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:21.328 + 2.694 14. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:22.136 + 3.502 15. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:22.264 + 3.630 16. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:22.296 + 3.662 17. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:22.384 + 3.750 18. Burti Prost Acer (M) 1:23.042 + 4.408 19. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:23.147 + 4.513 20. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:23.506 + 4.872 21. Alonso Minardi European (M) 1:23.956 + 5.322 22. Marques Minardi European (M) 1:24.469 + 5.835 All Timing Unofficial