Schuey: practice could mean nothing

The German will take his fourth Formula 1 World Championship if he wins the 13th round of the series in Budapest or finishes three points ahead of troubled title rival David Coulthard.

The Scot was forced to sit on the sidelines for the second hour due to a damaged floor on his McLaren-Mercedes after a trip across a kerb during the morning's first session. Schumacher, meanwhile, made a perfect start and topped the times 0.083s ahead of his Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello.

There was only Coulthard's McLaren team mate Mika Hakkinen hanging over his shoulder in third place just over a tenth away to darken his day.

"If you look at the time we are looking quite good today," said Schumacher. "But these times could count for nothing in the long run. We know we are in a strong position and we should be competitive in terms of our package."

The Ferrari ace never looked troubled throughout the day's running. Like most, he had a short excursion onto the grass as he found the limits of the track, but emerged unscathed and the clear pacesetter.

"We are still working on it to find the perfect solution, but we seem to be close to that point," he said. "As usual the track is slippery here. If you look at the times of Rubens and Hakkinen, it is very close and I expect a similar situation in qualifying."

Technical director Ross Brawn says the F2001's new aerodynamic package is working well.

"It is fine and well balanced and gave no problems," he said. "We just have to check the components tonight to make sure they are okay."