Raikkonen tops practice

Raikkonen gave McLaren a much-needed lift

Kimi Raikkonen topped the times on the first day of practice for the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

The McLaren driver gave the team some hope after a dismal start to the season with a lap of one minute 29.355 seconds in the second practice session.

Jenson Button was a quarter-of-a-second behind with Ralf Schumacher's Williams third and David Coulthard fifth.

Briton Anthony Davidson, who had been fastest in the morning, was seventh, with Michael Schumacher back in ninth.

Schumacher had only recorded nine laps and should not be too concerned by his position as the top 11 were separated by less than a second.

Davidson, who is a test driver for BAR and is vying for a race seat next season, had recorded a lap time of one minute 29.447 seconds in the first practice session.

While Monaco winner Jarno Trulli kept up the momentum from his first grand prix triumph, setting the fifth fastest lap of the day.

"We completed our planned programme and experienced no problems, which is encouraging," said Raikkonen. "The car seems to behave well here."

And Button praised his former karting rival Davidson.

"Anthony deserves a race seat, he's proved he's quick and I think in a race situation he would be good," said the BAR driver.

There were problems for Austrian rookie Christian Klien and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella though.

Klien careered into the gravel after losing control of his Jaguar after just 10 minutes of the second session.

And Fisichella suffered engine failure in his Sauber and was forced to pull out of the morning session before setting a lap time.

It means he will lose 10 places on the starting grid for Sunday's race as a Sauber spokesman said the car needed the engine replacing.

Under a rule introduced this season to cut costs, each car's engine must last an entire race weekend with drivers penalised for any replacements.

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Friday's free practice times:

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 1:29.355
2. Jenson Button (GB) BAR 1:29.618
3. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Williams1:29.677
4. David Coulthard (GB) McLaren 1:29.700
5. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Renault 1:29.919
6. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Ferrari 1:29.943
*7. Anthony Davidson (GB) BAR 1:30.028
8. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:30.163
9. Michael Schumacher (Ger Ferrari 1:30.227
10. Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR 1:30.283
11. Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) Williams 1:30.337
12. Mark Webber (Aus) Jaguar 1:30.466
13. Olivier Panis (Fra) Toyota 1:30.497
14. Cristiano Da Matta (Brz) Toyota 1:30.531
*15. Ricardo Zonta (Brz) Toyota 1:30.949
16. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Sauber 1:30.974
*17. Bjorn Wirdheim (Swe) Jaguar 1:31.780
*18. Timo Glock (Ger) Jordan 1:32.080
19. Christian Klien (Aut) Jaguar 1:32.217
20. Felipe Massa (Brz) Sauber 1:32.310
21. Gianmaria Bruni (Ita) Minardi 1:32.643
22. Zsolt Baumgartner (Hun) Minardi 1:32.986
23. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Jordan 1:33.175
24. Giorgio Pantano (Ita) Jordan 1:33.393
*25. Bas Leinders (Bel) Minardi 1:34.538

* denotes test drivers who will not race.