WilliamsF1 4th & 5th after Friday in Japan

The end of the second Friday practice in Japan would see the BMW WilliamsF1 drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher finish in fourth and fifth respectively. This result would be the team's second best result of the year after Friday's practice,  behind that of Friday at the Canadian Grand Prix where they were second and fifth respectively.

Both drivers would complete a total of eighty two laps, thirty eight for Juan Pablo and forty four for Ralf. Joining Juan Pablo in the WilliamsF1 pit was his father, Juan senior. Both driver would work at finding the right setup with Juan Pablo completing a long run on new tyres.

The only real blemish on the day was when Juan Pablo would lose control of his FW24 in the Degner curve and crash into the barrier, only four minutes before the end of the second practice session. He was not hurt in the accident. As the underside of his car rode over the curb it would pitch him sideways into the barriers hard at Degner Two. It was a simple driving error from Juan Pablo. Ralf would have a spin during the session but he was quickly able to continue.

Juan Pablo said of the accident: "I went over the sharp part of the kerb and lost the car. The impact was hard and I am still a bit sore."

At the top of the times it would be McLaren's new star Kimi Raikkonen who would set the fastest time. Kimi was able to set his time after just fifteen minutes of the session. Team-mate David Coulthard was second fastest, but he was half a second off his McLaren team-mate's pace.

Team boss Ron Dennis said: “It’s in the right direction as Michelin appear to be relatively competitive, it’s encouraging. It’s a good position, but it’s very early.”

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was third fastest time ahead of the BMW WillaimsF1 pair. team-mate Michael Schumacher would suffer a hydraulic problem that kept him in the pits. His earlier Friday time was good enough for sixth position come the end of the day’s practice.

Once again Jaguar's Eddie Irvine was near the front, taking the seventh fastest two tenths of a second ahead of team-mate Pedro de la Rosa. Renault's Jarno Trulli set the ninth fastest time ahead of Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella in tenth.

Toyota's Mika Salo set the eleventh fastest time ahead of Jenson Button and Takuma Sato. Toyota team-mate Allan McNish was fourteenth fastest ahead of Sauber's Felipe Massa. For BAR Honda they were hoping for a change in fortunes. Villeneuve was able to return to the track with twelve minutes of the session remaining, finishing in nineteenth. Team-mate Panis fared little better been seventeenth fastest. Minardi's Mark Webber split the BAR pair.

At the tail of the field was Alex Yoong, who would suffer a hydraulic problem ended his session 30 minutes early.

Based on the times it would appear that the Michelin supplied teams have the upper hand but it was reported that the McLaren's were running a light fuel load so whether they can continue to set the fastest times come Saturday is questionable.