By Greig Murray
July 27 2002

Saturday’s first free practice session would see Ferrari once again top the timesheets in convincing fashion. Michael Schumacher led the way with a fantastic pace while Rubens Barrichello was hot on his heels.

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Cool and clear conditions awaited the teams for the opening free practice sessions on Saturday and Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello will be hoping to continue on from their fine showing yesterday. Today the team will be working towards a good qualifying set-up and both drivers where out quickly for the standard installation lap to make sure all systems are working as expected.

10 minutes into the session and Schumacher is back out on track for his first run of the day but he backs off in the stadium section and his opening lap of the day is only good for third quickest. However he continues round once more and he sets a new fastest lap for this weekend with a lap of 1 minute 16.031 seconds. But he was not to stop at that pace as he becomes the first driver to go below the 16’s as he puts in another fastest lap with a 1.15.815. Barrichello is also out on track and he moves into second place. Not yet matching the pace of the world champion 1.16.052 is the best for Rubens so far.

Schumacher once again improves his best lap and is now sitting at the top with a 1.15.337 and with that he returns to the pits to take a look at the data and maybe to make some minor adjustments. 13 minutes to go in the first session and Barrichello is put on track and he is closing in on Schumacher’s time with a lap of 1.15.470 as Michael watches his team mate from the his garage. Barrichello continues to lap and Michael once again takes to the track. Barrichello continues to lap close to his earlier best but it is Michael who is once again improving but he spins in sector 3 and peels into the pit lane to let his mechanics check over his chassis for any signs of damage.

The session comes to an end on a very low point for Ferrari as Barrichello goes off at the final turn bringing out yellow flags ruining another fast lap from Schumacher. Barrichello’s car is resting against the wall but does not appear to be badly damaged, but it might well hamper his progress in the second session.

Full Times

1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1'15"337 218.570 Km/h
2. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1'15"459 + 0'00"122
3. MONTOYA Williams BMW 1'15"893 + 0'00"556
4. R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 1'16"020 + 0'00"683
5. COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes 1'16"707 + 0'01"370
6. MASSA Sauber Petronas 1'16"762 + 0'01"425
7. FISICHELLA Jordan Honda 1'16"806 + 0'01"469
8. PANIS BAR Honda 1'16"839 + 0'01"502
9. HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1'16"996 + 0'01"659
10. SATO Jordan Honda 1'17"094 + 0'01"757
11. BERNOLDI Arrows Cosworth 1'17"258 + 0'01"921
12. VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 1'17"375 + 0'02"038
13. RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes 1'17"485 + 0'02"148
14. SALO Toyota 1'17"764 + 0'02"427
15. BUTTON Renault 1'17"825 + 0'02"488
16. FRENTZEN Arrows Cosworth 1'17"870 + 0'02"533
17. TRULLI Renault 1'18"050 + 0'02"713
18. DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth 1'18"092 + 0'02"755
19. IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth 1'18"112 + 0'02"775
20. MCNISH Toyota 1'18"156 + 0'02"819
21. WEBBER Minardi Asiatech 1'18"871 + 0'03"534
22. YOONG Minardi Asiatech 1'20"314 + 0'04"977

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