Length: 5.303 km
Number of Laps: 58 (307.574 Km)
Best Lap: M. Schumacher - 1'28''214 (2001, Ferrari)
Record Pole: R. Barrichello - 1'25''843 (2002, Ferrari)
2002 Pole: R. Barrichello - 1'25''843 (Ferrari)
2002 Podium: M. Schumacher - J. Montoya - K. Raikkonen

It's 09:00 Saturday and the first free practice session is about to get underway, Pizzonia who had a difficult qualifying session on Friday is first out ahead of Ralf, Firman, da Matta, Coulthard and local hero Mark Webber.

The Brazilian stays out as does Ralf, while most of the others return to the pits. 1:36.491 for the Jungle Boy but within seconds Ralf has gone quickest with a 1:32.099 closely followed by Webber.

Michael Schumacher is on track, rare to see him come out this early, the German goes fourth quickest as Webber goes to the top of the timesheets with a 1:30.262.

1:29.046 and Michael goes quickest ahead of Button, Webber, Pizzonia and Ralf, the only drivers to post times with eight minutes gone. Barrichello goes second quickest on his first flying lap as fellow South American Juan Pablo Montoya appears to have smoke coming from the back of his car.

1:27.987 for Michael as Button goes second, the BARs really showing a good pace thus far this weekend. Panis goes fourth as Barrichello leapfrogs Button to go second, albeit over a second slower than his team-mate.

Da Matta is on track as Montoya returns to the pits, is his session over?

1:30.816 and Ralph Firman goes seventh but is quickly demoted by da Matta, everyone has completed a lap except for Alonso. Da Matta goes fifth behind Michael, Barrichello, Button and Panis.

1:28.992 and Kimi Raikkonen goes third fastest just 1.005 behind Schumacher, Coulthard goes fifth as the McLaren show promise.

Fifteen minutes gone: Michael, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Button, Coulthard, Panis da Matta and Firman.

Out of nowhere Trulli goes third while team-mate Alonso goes fourth, impressive. 1:28.069 and Trulli goes second a mere 0.082 off Schumacher's best time. Villeneuve is on track and goes tenth with his first flyer as Frentzen goes thirteenth.

Montoya, Heidfeld, Wilson and Verstappen have yet to set a time with twenty minutes of this first session already gone. Don't forget, Wilson is first out for qualifying this afternoon.

At the halfway point, it's: Michael, Trulli, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Alonso, Coulthard, Button and Montoya who finally posts a time - 1:29.402.

Pizzonia has completed the most laps yet is languishing in sixteenth, the Brazilian still looking a little ragged.

Montoya goes sixth behind Alonso as Ralf is still back in eleventh, Verstappen finally comes out, all drivers have now been out for this session.

Villeneuve goes ninth, right behind his good buddy Jenson, Firman is an impressive thirteenth ahead of his more experienced team-mate Fisichella.

1:28.291 and Ralf goes third, next lap he goes quicker still just 0.058 behind his brother. Button improves to fourth but still no time from Jos or Heidfeld. I was about to compare Pizzonia to Felipe Massa when the Brazilian spins off into the tyre wall, his session over.

1:27.875 and Rubens goes quickest ahead of the Schumacher brothers, Trulli, Button, Raikkonen, Montoya, Alonso, Coulthard and Panis. 1:27.614 and Rubens goes quicker still, the Brazilian looking awesome. Michael meanwhile brushes the barrier and aborts what looked like a fast lap to return to the pits.

Still no times from Heidfeld and Verstappen, and the new qualifying format means that track time is vital.

Fisichella improves to go twelfth while Villeneuve goes eleventh, both drivers uninspiring in this session, so far.

Suddenly the session is red-flagged, Raikkonen has gone off. It's a big accident. He's hit the wall and destroyed the side of the car, thankfully he's out of the car, he's OK.

Six minutes later the session gets underway again, but there is a strange atmosphere here now.

Of the top ten runners, Trulli completed the least number of laps (6), while Barrichello has completed the most (12).

1:30.465, a time from Heidfeld, the German goes seventeenth, his team-mate Frentzen is fourteenth, disappointing performance from the Saubers.

1:27.803 and Button goes second a mere 0.189 behind Barrichello, Heidfeld improves to sixteenth.

1:27.415 and Button 'proves himself' as he goes to the top of the timesheets, Villeneuve goes ninth. Webber goes eleventh as Frentzen improves to twelfth, that's more like it.

Button, Barrichello, Ralf, Michael, Trulli, Montoya, Alonso, Coulthard, Webber and Villeneuve followed by Raikkonen, who now has to decide if he wants to use the T-Car in the next session.

The session comes to a close and still no time from Verstappen while Villeneuve appeared to have a problem as the flag came out.