Saturday Second Free Practice

Fernando Alonso sent his home fans wild after topping the times in Saturday's final practice session ahead of qualifying for his home Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Renault driver Alonso produced an impressive lap mid-way through the session and his time of 1:17.670 proved beyond his rivals' reach as he ended more than half a second ahead of the field. Rubens Barrichello, driving the new Ferrari F2003-GA, posted the second best time ahead of Alonso's Renault teammate Jarno Trulli.

World Champion Michael Schumacher was only fourth fastest for Ferrari, almost a second down on Alonso's time, with Toyota's Olivier Panis making major improvements in the second session to move up to fifth. McLaren-Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen, quickest in the opening session, ended sixth ahead of his teammate David Coulthard and BAR-Honda driver Jenson Button.

Jaguar pair Mark Webber and under-pressure Antonio Pizzonia, second in the first practice, completed the top ten in ninth and 10th respectively. Webber had moved up to second behind Raikkonen early in the session before Alonso blitzed the field with a time 1.342 seconds quicker than the McLaren driver's previous mark.

Juan Pablo Montoya, who went off the track at high speed in the opening session, had an off-track excursion at turn 12 before continuing but he ended a disappointing 15th overall. His Williams-BMW teammate Ralf Schumacher was also off the pace and could only manage to set the 16th best time, more than two seconds behind Alonso.

Jacques Villeneuve, the 12th quickest driver, crashed his BAR-Honda in the closing stages into the tyre barriers at turn three and damaged the car.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Renault (M) 1:17.670 219.235 km/h 24 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:18.214 + 0.544 31 3. Trulli Renault (M) 1:18.263 + 0.593 29 4. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:18.623 + 0.953 27 5. Panis Toyota (M) 1:18.985 + 1.315 34 6. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:19.012 + 1.342 26 7. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:19.150 + 1.480 30 8. Button BAR Honda (B) 1:19.159 + 1.489 31 9. Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:19.172 + 1.502 37 10. Pizzonia Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:19.262 + 1.592 38 11. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:19.342 + 1.672 44 12. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:19.525 + 1.855 30 13. Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:19.729 + 2.059 26 14. Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) 1:19.773 + 2.103 25 15. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:19.819 + 2.149 27 16. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:19.846 + 2.176 36 17. Firman Jordan Ford (B) 1:20.298 + 2.628 30 18. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:20.349 + 2.679 25 19. Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:21.945 + 4.275 20 20. Wilson Minardi Cosworth (B) 1:21.960 + 4.290 27 All Timing Unofficial