Saturday Second Free Practice - German GP

by Will Gray

Ralf Schumacher continued his impressive form on home soil ahead of Sunday's German Grand Prix when he finished fastest in an incident-filled final practice session.

German Schumacher, who was fastest in qualifying on Friday, set a time of 1:15.387 to finish 0.108 seconds ahead of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, of Ferrari, and 0.329 seconds ahead of his Colombian teammate Juan Pablo Montoya.

The session ended disappointingly for Scot David Coulthard, of McLaren, and Ferrari's World Champion Michael Schumacher as they both crashed out after making mistakes.

Scot David Coulthard was back in the garage just 15 minutes into the session after he clipped the grass heading into turn 13, the Sachs Kurve, spun and hit the barriers heavily with the left-hand side of his McLaren.

German Schumacher was caught out late in the session at turn 12, where his teammate Barrichello had spun earlier, but he did not recover and finished eighth after being forced to climb out of his stricken Ferrari.

Schumacher lost control on entering the corner and spun backwards into the gravel but made an uncharacteristic mistake when he tried to drive back onto the track but drove straight into the tyre barrier.

Renault drivers Fernando Alonso, of Spain, and Jarno Trulli, of Italy, finished fourth and fifth, with Finn Kimi Raikkonen sixth in the leading McLaren and Australian Mark Webber just ahead of Schumacher in seventh in the Jaguar.

Webber's new teammate Justin Wilson finished in 16th place more than a second slower while the BAR-Honda pair of Briton Jenson Button and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve completed the top ten.

There were several other minor spinners during the session, with Barrichello the first to lose control, at turn 12, and Nicolas Kiesa adding to the car park at the Sachs Kurve by leaving his Minardi alongside Coulthard's McLaren.

The hairpin, turn 6, also caught out a couple of drivers, with Alonso spinning his Renault there and Wilson losing control of his Jaguar a little later in the session.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:15.387 218.425 km/h 13 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:15.495 + 0.108 16 3. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:15.716 + 0.329 7 4. Alonso Renault (M) 1:16.277 + 0.890 19 5. Trulli Renault (M) 1:16.305 + 0.918 13 6. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:16.320 + 0.933 15 7. Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:16.474 + 1.087 17 8. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:16.493 + 1.106 17 9. Button BAR Honda (B) 1:16.954 + 1.567 24 10. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:16.957 + 1.570 24 11. Panis Toyota (M) 1:17.169 + 1.782 11 12. Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:17.334 + 1.947 17 13. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:17.426 + 2.039 22 14. Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 1:17.583 + 2.196 16 15. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:17.647 + 2.260 24 16. Wilson Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:17.766 + 2.379 11 17. Firman Jordan Ford (B) 1:18.403 + 3.016 18 18. Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:19.533 + 4.146 20 19. Kiesa Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:20.408 + 5.021 4 All Timing Unofficial