Ferrari lead second Italian GP practice

Ferrari gave the Tifosi something to cheer about in the second free practice of the Italian Grand Prix, with Michael Schumacher fastest followed by Rubens Barrichello. Schumacher posted a top time of 1:22.433 and Barrichello was only a couple of tenths behind. The Brazilian had problems with the braking system on his F2002 in the first session that restricted him to two laps but Ferrari rectified the problem.

Kimi Raikkonen picked up the earlier pace for McLaren, going third fastest, although team-mate David Coulthard abruptly ended his session in a gravel trap. Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa continued the good work for Jaguar, Irvine fourth and de la Rosa eighth. The Williams duo of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher were slightly off the usual Friday form, managing fifth and seventh respectively.

Mika Salo was the sole Toyota in the top ten, Allan McNish floundering down in eighteenth. The two Renaults made up the final two places, Jarno Trulli ahead of Jenson Button despite a wobbly on-track moment. Giancarlo Fisichella was the next fastest Bridgestone runner after the Ferraris, the Jordan driver eleventh quickest. Team-mate Takuma Sato was fourteenth.

Jacques Villeneuve was again the faster of the two BARs and Felipe Massa the quicker Sauber. Nick Heidfeld struggled in seventeenth and Olivier Panis fifteenth -- neither seemed to have any specific problems, although Heidfeld's chassis was bottoming out frquently. Both Sauber drivers wore the HANS device. Minardi bought up the rear, Mark Webber ahead of Alex Yoong although the Malaysian was only a couple of tenths behind. He had been faster than Webber until later in the session. Both were nearly four seconds slower than Schumacher's fastest.

The Monza circuit caused few incidents: as well as Coulthard, Yoong went off after clipping the barrier at Ascari -- Michael also narrowly missed coming to grief at the same place. De la Rosa and Trulli had precarious moments but managed to keep going and there were no serious problems. Final top six classification: M.Schumacher, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Irvine, Montoya, Salo.