In a session that would see many drivers caught out by the dusty track conditions the best of the Michelin drivers was BMW WilliamsF1 driver Ralf Schumacher who finished in third. Liek many Ralf would also spin off the circuit during both of the Friday sessions.

Ralf said: "Our Friday tasks went alright, but cannot read too much into the Free practice times, whether you are third or last. We have gone through our set-up programme and we have already made our tyre choice."

Ralf Schumacher would head McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen in fourth position. based on the early times it would appear that those using Bridgestone tyres have the upper hand with the fastest times been set by the Ferrari pair of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. They were followed by the improving Jordan-Hondas of Takuma Sato and Giancarlo Fisichella in fifth and sixth.

McLaren's David Coulthard was seventh overall and third of five Michelin runners in the top ten, ahead of Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa in ninth and Renault's Jenson Button in tenth.

For BMW WilliamsF1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya the day was spent struggling to find the right balance, which included several spins. He would spin into a gravel trap while on a fast lap in the closing moments of the session and had to abandon his car.

Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director, commented on the days practice.

We saw lots of drivers sliding off the track today. The circuit looked very dirty?

"It was. The track evolved during the day and became much cleaner, but only on the racing line. Even at the end of the session we saw that drivers were running wide onto the grass if they strayed so much as a couple of centimetres off line, where there is no grip at all."

Is it easy evaluating both types of dry-weather tyre in such conditions?

"Not at all, and you might even say the information we glean is useless because conditions will doubtless have changed a great deal again by tomorrow."

Do your primary (A) and option (B) tyres differ a great deal in terms of performance?

"They do, and the option seems better suited to the conditions we have seen so far."

We saw David Coulthard returning to the pits with a damaged left rear tyre. Do you know what caused that?

"In fact there was no damage. The tyre was knocked of the rim when he hit the kerb. Sometimes the bead can be on seated like this. When we put pressure back in the tyre it was fine."

Ralf Schumacher (BMW WilliamsF1 Team) and Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes) were your fastest drivers today, in third and fourth places. Are you happy with your performance in general?

"So far, yes. At Magny-Cours we saw that McLaren was on the pace and at Hockenheim it was Williams's turn. From what we have seen so far it looks as though both of them will be very strong this weekend."