Saturday Free Practice - German GP

Michael Schumacher crashed in front of his home crowd on Saturday as title rival Mika Hakkinen went fastest in the final free practice for Sunday's German Formula One Grand Prix.

The 31-year-old Ferrari driver spun off backwards into the barriers at the Opel Kurve in the 'stadium' section of the Hockenheimring circuit in the final seconds of the session as he attempted to improve on his time.

The championship leader lost control and his car hit the barriers in the impact, losing the rear wing.

Schumacher walked away solemnly from the accident, grim-faced but unhurt, less than an hour after his younger brother Ralf has also spun his Williams off in a similar accident that snapped off his rear wing.

Double world champion Hakkinen of Finland, in his McLaren, had a best lap of one minute and 41.658 seconds, three-tenths of a second ahead of second fastest Schumacher's best time.

Hakkinen's team-mate Briton David Coulthard was third-fastest in the second McLaren ahead of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello in the second Ferrari.

German Heinz-Harald Frentzen was fifth in his Jordan and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella sixth.

Fisichella's car suffered an apparent engine failure, however, at the close of the session when he idled to a halt with smoke billowing from his Benetton.

Frenchman Jean Alesi in a Prost, also spun off early in the session when he lost control of the car under braking while the circuit was still damp following Friday's torrential rain.

Pos Driver Team Times 1. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:41.658 241.693 km/h 2. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1:41.932 + 0.274 3. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:41.971 + 0.313 4. Barrichello Ferrari 1:42.340 + 0.682 5. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:42.446 + 0.788 6. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:42.613 + 0.955 7. Button Williams BMW 1:42.617 + 0.959 8. Salo Sauber Petronas 1:42.877 + 1.219 9. Villeneuve BAR Honda 1:42.878 + 1.220 10. Trulli Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:42.903 + 1.245 11. Verstappen Arrows Supertec 1:43.175 + 1.517 12. de la Rosa Arrows Supertec 1:43.438 + 1.780 13. Zonta BAR Honda 1:43.534 + 1.876 14. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:43.554 + 1.896 15. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:43.623 + 1.965 16. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth 1:44.049 + 2.391 17. Heidfeld Prost Peugeot 1:44.174 + 2.516 18. Alesi Prost Peugeot 1:44.515 + 2.857 19. Gene Minardi Fondmetal 1:44.591 + 2.933 20. Mazzacane Minardi Fondmetal 1:45.000 + 3.342 21. Herbert Jaguar Cosworth 1:45.234 + 3.576 22. R.Schumacher Williams BMW 1:52.141 + 10.483 All Timing Unofficial