Saturday Second Free Practice - Belgian GP
Finn Kimi Raikkonen knocked five-time World Champion Michael Schumacher off the top of the times for the second day in a row in Saturday's final practice session for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
Finn Kimi Raikkonen knocked five-time World Champion Michael Schumacher off the top of the times for the second day in a row in Saturday's final practice session for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
The McLaren-Mercedes youngster, who also went fastest in Friday's practice, set a time of 1:44.870 seconds to push the Ferrari star down to second as the clouds built around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Raikkonen, 22, who almost beat Schumacher to victory in France last month, was only just faster - by 0.081 seconds - than his German rival, but the time was significant enough to leave slight question marks over the certainty of an all-Ferrari front row.
Scot David Coulthard finished third fastest in the second McLaren-Mercedes, 0.537 seconds slower than Raikkonen but just ahead of Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello in fourth, who seems to be struggling on the forested track.
The Williams-BMW pair of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher finished fifth and sixth, more than five tenths of a second ahead of seventh placed Mika Salo's Toyota, as the Grand Prix newcomers continued to show impressive form.
Toyota-bound Olivier Panis was eighth for British American Racing, with Pedro de la Rosa ninth for Jaguar and Jenson Button, of Renault, completing the top ten.
The session concluded with little incident other than spins for both Michael and Ralf Schumacher, at turns eight and six respectively, and Australian Mark Webber finally beat new Minardi teammate Anthony Davidson by seven tenths of a second as the pair finished at the back of the pack.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:44.870 239.199 km/h 17 2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:44.951 + 0.081 17 3. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:45.407 + 0.537 22 4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:45.451 + 0.581 21 5. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:45.620 + 0.750 21 6. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:45.696 + 0.826 21 7. Salo Toyota (M) 1:46.324 + 1.454 25 8. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:46.628 + 1.758 29 9. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:46.759 + 1.889 23 10. Button Renault (M) 1:46.820 + 1.950 26 11. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:46.866 + 1.996 21 12. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:46.873 + 2.003 23 13. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:47.087 + 2.217 24 14. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 1:47.092 + 2.222 23 15. Trulli Renault (M) 1:47.292 + 2.422 26 16. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:47.376 + 2.506 25 17. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:47.387 + 2.517 24 18. McNish Toyota (M) 1:47.670 + 2.800 17 19. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:48.735 + 3.865 14 20. Davidson Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:49.386 + 4.516 23 All Timing Unofficial
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