In a reversal of the morning session it was the Michelin supplied teams who would improve with four of the top six Michelin supplied drivers. McLaren's David Coulthard would move to the top of the timesheets with a lap, run on new tyres, of 1m:31.886. Team-mate Raikkonen would finish third.

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher was second quickest, with his team-mate Rubens Barrichello in fourth, and Juan-Pablo Montoya improved late to take fifth.

WilliamsF1 team-mate Ralf Schumacher finished sixth, with the Renaults of Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button in seventh and eighth. For the Renault F1 Team they would experience a positive first day at the European Grand Prix, with Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button lying in seventh and eighth positions following the first two free practice sessions. The day focused on evaluating the different tyre compounds, finding a good race set-up and, following the recent circuit modifications, assessing their impact on overall performance.

Toyota's Mika Salo was ninth, with BAR Honda’s Olivier Panis in tenth. Nick Heidfeld finished eleventh, ahead of Jordan’s Takuma Sato, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and Pedro de la Rosa.

For the DHL Jordan Honda Friday practice was productive today, with both drivers making good progress on qualifying and race set-up. Giancarlo Fisichella experienced no problems with his EJ12, and although Takuma Sato lost 20 minutes of running time after an electrical failure forced him to stop on the track at the end of the first session, he was mostly satisfied with the car’s balance.

Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR with the revised Honda engine was 15th, followed by Sauber’s Felipe Massa, Giancarlo Fisichella, Allan McNish, and Enrique Bernoldi. Mark Webber jumped up to twentieth, ahead of Eddie Irvine, and Alex Yoong.

For Jaguar Racing drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Eddie Irvine they would work through a typical Friday job list that involved tyre evaluation and set-up work. Neither driver reported any problems, but the high downforce demands of the Nürburgring circuit will pose a tough challenge for Jaguar Racing over the course of what is expected to be a difficult weekend.