Qualifying 1: Friesacher quickest

The Red Bull Jr driver put together a great lap of 1m28.553s to claim what could potentially be his first pole in the series. Although Friesacher had been quickest at one stage early on, the man at the top of the times for most of the session was Antonio Pizzonia.

The Brazilian survived a trip up the escape road at Mirabeau to head the field with a lap of 1m29.095s. It looked as though he would go even quicker, but a spin at Casino Square resulted in contact with the barrier and removed his front wing, which effectively ended his session.

Pizzonia was subsequently bumped down to fourth as Enrico Toccacelo and championship leader Tomas Enge produced laps in the 1m28s.

It was a surprisingly incident-free session considering the number of drivers new to the track. Sebastien Bourdais jumped the Nouvelle Chicane at one stage, but his car was undamaged and he set the eighth best time.

Click here for full list of times.