Ralf commented on the session by saying: "Today everything went according to plan and we completed the scheduled work, trying out a few things. At present we are still not sure about our tyre choice. All in all the car is not so bad but there’s still some work ahead of us."

But it would be WilliamsF1's main championship challengers McLaren who would move to the top of the times with David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen first and second in the second free practice session at Magny-Cours this afternoon.

With the weather still sunny both McLaren drivers were able to get through a useful number of laps. Coulthard ended with a best time of 1m:14.025, with Raikkonen just seven hundredths of a second behind.

"We had a good day working with the tyres and everything is looking well," said Coulthard. "The balance is okay, but I still have a little oversteer. The last part of the track with the tight chicanes is where we made most of our progress, which is encouraging, as this is where you can really make a difference. The Michelin tyres have proved strong in hot weather conditions and I hope that this will help us to achieve a good result this weekend."

Michael Schumacher was third with a 1:14.240 and he, along with Felipe Massa, completed the most laps of the session with 50. In the final minute of the session Michael Schumacher was on a charge but pushed too hard losing control of his Ferrari over the kerbs in the penultimate corner of the lap. He managed to keep his engine running and continued on his way.

Rubens Barrichello, who was quickest this morning, was fourth, followed by Ralf Schumacher, and Eddie Irvine. Irvine's Jaguar was performing solidly after the team’s successful aerodynamic development test at the Monza autodromo last week.

Toyota’s Mika Salo, who lost his engine in the second half of the stint was seventh, ahead of Irvine’s Jaguar team-mate Pedro de la Rosa, Jenson Button, and Juan-Pablo Montoya in the second BMW WilliamsF1.

Allan McNish, who stalled his car at the end of the pitlane, showed that Toyota meant business with 11th place, ahead of Jordan’s Giancarlo Fisichella, Felipe Massa, and BAR man Olivier Panis.

The second Jordan of Takuma Sato finished 15th. Sato would understeer off the track at Estoril but was able to keep his Jordan away from the wall. He would continue across the gravel and return to the pits. Next was Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, Jacques Villeneuve, and Jarno Trulli.

Trulli had problems during the session completing only eighteen laps. He would lose the rear of his Renault in the mid sector of the lap after clipping the kerbs. He would slide off and hit the tyre wall, ending his session.

Alex Yoong rounded out the timesheets with a 1:19.015 and completed forty three laps. Arrows again did not make an appearance. The cars will probably come out for Saturday practice depending on how the negotiations fare between team officials and Morgan Grenfell Private Equity.