Opening French practice WilliamsF1 10th & 15th

For the BMW WilliamsF1 team the opening Friday practice for the 2005 French Grand Prix would see Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber set times that would see them tenth and fifteenth fastest.

The Formula One teams would return to Europe after the disaster of the United States Grand Prix. The French Grand Prix at the Magny-Cours circuit would hopefully see a return to racing for the teams. The first step in this was the opening Friday practice. For the Toyota team it would see the return of French driver Olivier Panis. Tonio Liuzzi would also make a return for Red Bull Racing after being replaced by Scott Speed.

With the start of the session Jordan's Robert Doornbos would be the first driver out onto the Circuit. Panis would also come out onto the track, joined by McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa. Panis would set a time of 1m:18.496 to go fastest while de la Rosa set a time of 1m:19.474. But with just over ten minutes of the session run Pedro would drop his time considerably with a time of 1m:17.255 to go fastest. While Panis returned to the pits Liuzzi would come out. The Italian's first time was a 1m:22.357. Doornbos and Minardi's Patrick Friesacher were also out on the track. Liuzzi would improve his time with a 1m:20.790, while Friesacher would return to his pit.

Doornbos first timed lap would be a 1m:21.991. The second Minardi of Albers was also out and his first lap would see him set a time of 1m:22.403, to be in fifth. He would improve his time but not his place on his next lap. Friesacher, de la Rosa, and Panis would all return to the track. Jordan's Narian Karthikeyan and
Tiago Monteiro were also out for their first timed laps.

de la Rosa would lower his time even further breaking into the 1m:16 bracket,
with a time of 1m:16.918. He would improve with a 1m:16.764. Team-mate Kimi
Raikkonen was out for his first laps. With over half the session run Karthikeyan
would move into third with a time of 1m:20.284. Doornbos was next with a
1m:20.676. Raikkonen's first lap would see him in second with a time of
1m:17.583. His next lap was a 1m:16.430, and this would see him fastest.

Monteiro would have problems with his car that would see him spin his car at the final chicane ending up in the gravel. Doornbos would move ahead of Karthikeyan with a time of 1m:19.760. Michael Schumacher was out joined by Juan Pablo Montoya, Nick Heidfeld and Jenson Button. Michael's first lap would see him in third with a time of 1m:17.219.

For the BMW WilliamsF1 team both the teams drivers were out and on their first
laps Mark Webber was in fourth while Nick Heidfeld was in sixth. With twenty
minutes of the session run Button would take fourth from Webber with a 1m:17.529. Montoya was now in fifth, while Button was now in third.

de la Rosa would improve his time with a stunning time of 1m:14.919, which was 1.495 seconds faster than Montoya who was now in second with a time of 1m:16.414. Michael was now in fifth with a 1m:16.838. de la Rosa would again lower his time with a 1m:14.778. Both Renaults would come out and Giancarlo Fisichella would move into second with a time of 1m:16.330. Panis was now in fifth with a 1m:16.491. Fisichella would improve his time by about a second but such was de la Rosa's time that the Renault driver would remain in second.

The second Renault of Alonso was now in second with a 1m:15.650. So with ten minutes remaining the top ten was de la Rosa, Alonso, Fisichella, Montoya, Raikkonen, Panis, Button, Michael Schumacher, Sato and Barrichello. Neither WilliamsF1 driver was in the top ten.

With five minutes remaining Button was now in fourth with a 1m:16.038. BAR's Takuma Sato would set a quick time to now be in fourth with a time of 1m:15.530. With the chequered flag Ralf Schumacher would put his Toyota in the top ten, ninth position with a time of time of 1m:16.731. Nick Heidfeld was now in tenth, time of 1m:16.758, with Mark Webber down in fifteenth with a time of 1m:17.451.

The top ten would finish with de la Rosa fastest followed by Alonso, Fisichella, Sato, Raikkonen, Button, Panis, Montoya, R. Schumacher and Heidfeld. The only driver not to set a time was Toyota's Jarno Trulli.