Rubens Barrichello ended the day in third place (1’35”402) while Michael Schumacher was sixth (1’36”109) behind fourth placed Juan Pablo Montoya (1’35”742) and the Colombian’s BMW-Williams team-mate Ralf Schumacher (1’35”995.) In fact, Michael only completed 3 laps in the afternoon, because of an hydraulic problem on his F2002, which could not be fixed in time.

Rubens did 33 laps during the day, happy with the work done on balancing the car for this tricky circuit. The Suzuka track is quicker than last year and that is not entirely down to technical progress on the car and tyre front. In the tricky “S” section after the start, one part of it has been flattened out slightly, making the approach quicker.

Having set the fourth fastest time, Montoya had a big accident at Degner curve this afternoon, wiping a couple of corners off his car. Along with Villeneuve’s accident in the morning and a car fire for Alex Yoong’s Minardi, these were the main incidents of the day.

Jean Todt: “The Japanese Grand Prix is a very important race for us and we are keen to do well in what is the home event for Bridgestone and also their one hundredth Formula 1 race. The Suzuka track is very demanding, both for the car and the driver. In the first hour of practice, we were able to work on the car set-up. In the second part, Schumacher’s car developed a hydraulic problem which could not be fixed in the time, which meant Michael spent nearly the whole session in the pits. Rubens however was able to run continuously, doing the usual job of comparing the two types of tyre available. We expect to be competitive in tomorrow’s qualifying session. We will be aiming for an all-red front row. That is a more ambitious target than usual, because we would like to do it as a present for our good friends at Bridgestone and our many fans in Japan.”

Rubens Barrichello: “The day went reasonably well and we worked on the usual comparison between the two types of tyre available, accumulating data which will be useful when it comes to making the final choice tomorrow morning. The track has not got enough rubber down on it yet, so the lap times mean very little, but I am happy with the work we have done in the two hours of free practice especially in terms of balancing the car. I am confident for qualifying and also for Sunday’s race.”

Michael Schumacher: “The morning part of the session went well as we worked on our usual Friday programme. However, this afternoon, I hardly did any laps, as my car developed a problem with the hydraulic system. We will now have to analyse exactly what caused it, but I am not concerned about this for tomorrow’s qualifying session as I am sure we will be competitive, even if the gap between us and the non-Bridgestone teams seems a bit closer than usual. The track is a bit slippery at the moment, but that is normal here on the first day.”

Luca Baldisserri: “As usual, Suzuka is quite difficult for tyres so it is very important to make sure that you have a good programme on Friday to try both specifications. Unfortunately, a hydraulic problem with Michael’s car meant he could hardly run in the second session so we concentrated on Rubens. Again, he tried both tyres. On the first run he went wide over the kerbs so we stopped the run to check the car. The last run was quite promising – he did seven laps which has given us some useful information about the tyres.”