Saturday Second Free Practice

Sweeping showers of drizzle and heavier rain upset the preparations of all the teams on Saturday morning as Michael Schumacher and Ferrari topped the times, following an earlier heavy accident involving new boy Takuma Sato, in final practice before qualifying for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Sato was unhurt, Schumacher unflustered and Ferrari ascendant as the chequered flag fell at the end of the morning.

Umbrellas and wet-weather clothing, in all kinds of colours, were apparent all over the Albert Park track in the final minutes when the teams, after several incidents, retreated into their dry garages. Even Schumacher, who topped the listings with a best time of one minute and 26.177 seconds, had one off-on moment as he pushed in the damp conditions.

His former Ferrari teammate and friend Mika Salo, back with the new Toyota team that has impressed with straight line speed and an unfussy approach to the task, had gone off twice early in the second part of the morning. He was followed on the incidents' list by Olivier Panis, in his BAR-Honda, when the Frenchman came to a halt. Nick Heidfeld, in the impressive Sauber, also stopped on the circuit.

Saturday practice ended with the 'old' Ferraris opening up a gap of more than a second ahead of Juan-Pablo Montoya in the leading Williams-BMW, his team-mate Ralf Schumacher and the two McLaren Mercedes-Benzs. It was, in many respects, the same old story as last year, normal service resumed, but the weather threatened an upset.

Pos Driver Team Times 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:26.177 221.530 km/h 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:26.331 + 0.154 3. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:27.394 + 1.217 4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:27.424 + 1.247 5. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:27.505 + 1.328 6. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:27.635 + 1.458 7. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:28.295 + 2.118 8. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:28.557 + 2.380 9. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:28.570 + 2.393 10. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:28.605 + 2.428 11. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 1:28.700 + 2.523 12. Trulli Renault (M) 1:28.773 + 2.596 13. Button Renault (M) 1:28.881 + 2.704 14. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:29.174 + 2.997 15. McNish Toyota (M) 1:29.663 + 3.486 16. Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:29.724 + 3.547 17. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:29.737 + 3.560 18. Salo Toyota (M) 1:30.100 + 3.923 19. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:30.914 + 4.737 20. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:31.203 + 5.026 21. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:31.286 + 5.109 22. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:33.425 + 7.248 All Timing Unofficial