The 45-minute session got off to a slow start with torrential rain deterring any serious running.

However, with the clock ticking down the pit lane cleared out and the drivers went into battle.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso (1:52.667) drew first blood but the Spaniard’s advantage didn’t last long as the top position frequently changed hands with the field increasing in confidence.

As the chequered flag fell it seemed as though a fairytale finish to Saturday’s second session was in order with Narain Karthikeyan (1:50.150) storming to the top of the order in his Jordan.

However the Indian’s celebrations were to be quickly muted as Fisichella’s Renault, the last car on the circuit, went fourteen hundredths of a second quicker to end the morning in P1.

Ralf Schumacher (1:50.369), who was one the more impressive drivers during the session, finished third fastest in his Toyota, head of Jenson Button’s (1:50.920) BAR.

Minardi’s Christijan Albers and Jordan’s Tiago Monteiro took full advantage of their Bridgestone rubber to finish in fifth and sixth respectively.

The McLaren pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya elected not to complete a lap while Michael Schumacher was stranded to his box as Ferrari continued repair work on his F2005 following his first session shunt.