By Karl King
April 21 2006

First and second free practices both got underway at San Marino today, with McLaren making such little impact on the timesheets which must have left some people wondering if the team were even there. Of course, they were, however they failed to set a time any better than ninth fastest...

Free Practice 1

A low-key session for McLaren saw Juan Pablo Montoya not even venture out of his garage. Kimi Raikkonen drove his way to ninth in five laps, ahead of MF1's Christijan Albers. The Finn's time was almost two seconds slower than the leading pace.

The aforementioned pace was set by Michael Schumacher - a name not usually at the top of the timesheets this year. People had been predicting a comeback for Ferrari at one of their home races in Imola. Schumacher's team mate, Felipe Massa, was seventh.

The other six cars ahead of Kimi Raikkonen included two Red Bulls, a Toyota, Honda, BMW and Williams.

1.  M.SCHUMACHER   Ferrari      1m24.751s

2.  WURZ           Williams     1m25.132s

3.  KUBICA         BMW Sauber   1m25.942s

4.  DAVIDSON       Honda        1m26.012s

5.  TRULLI         Toyota       1m26.417s

6.  DOORNBOS       Red Bull     1m26.498s

7.  MASSA          Ferrari      1m26.596s

8.  COULTHARD      Red Bull     1m26.678s

9.  RAIKKONEN      McLaren      1m26.938s

10. ALBERS         MF1          1m28.048s

11. SPEED          Toro Rosso   1m28.498s

12. MONDINI        MF1          1m28.969s

13. KLIEN          Red Bull     1m29.106s

14. JANI           Toro Rosso   1m29.695s

15. MONTEIRO       MF1          1m29.697s

16. LIUZZI         Toro Rosso   1m30.348s

17. SATO           Super Aguri  1m31.217s

18. IDE            Super Aguri  1m31.482s

19. ALONSO         Renault      no time

20. R.SCHUMACHER   Toyota       no time

21. FISICHELLA     Renault      no time

22. MONTOYA        McLaren      no time

23. HEIDFELD       BMW Sauber   no time

24. VILLENEUVE     BMW Sauber   no time

25. BARRICHELLO    Honda        no time

26. WEBBER         Williams     no time

27. ROSBERG        Williams     no time

28. BUTTON         Honda        no time

Free Practice 2

There was no strong comeback by McLaren in the second free practice. As Juan Pablo made his track appearance he took the ninth place Kimi Raikkonen held in the previous session. Kimi, however had not improved on that time - in fact he was down in twelfth after a spot of off-roading, with Heidfeld and Button separating the 'Silver Arrows'.

Michael Schumacher was unable to retain the top spot as the World Champion ventured out. Alonso took first with Schumacher second, and Kubica again putting in a good performance for BMW-Sauber, grabbing third.

Anthony Davidson was a few tenths behind in the Honda, followed by Massa and Fisichella. Also ahead of Montoya was the Toyota of Jarno Trulli, and the Cosworth powered Williams of Alex Wurz.

1.  ALONSO        Renault      1m25.043s

2.  M.SCHUMACHER  Ferrari      1m25.371s

3.  KUBICA        BMW          1m25.421s

4.  DAVIDSON      Honda        1m25.699s

5.  MASSA         Ferrari      1m25.879s

6.  FISICHELLA    Renault      1m25.991s

7.  TRULLI        Toyota       1m26.029s

8.  WURZ          Williams     1m26.328s

9.  MONTOYA       McLaren      1m26.334s

10. HEIDFELD      BMW          1m26.387s

11. BUTTON        Honda        1m26.427s

12. RAIKKONEN     McLaren      1m26.500s

13. BARRICHELLO   Honda        1m26.653s

14. ALBERS        Midland      1m26.783s

15. VILLENEUVE    BMW          1m26.797s

16. DOORNBOS      Red Bull     1m26.917s

17. ROSBERG       Williams     1m26.989s

18. LIUZZI        Toro Rosso   1m27.128s

19. WEBBER        Williams     1m27.157s

20. COULTHARD     Red Bull     1m27.503s

21. MONTEIRO      Midland      1m27.544s

22. R.SCHUMACHER  Toyota       1m27.639s

23. SPEED         Toro Rosso   1m27.719s

24. KLIEN         Red Bull     1m27.990s

25. JANI          Toro Rosso   1m28.361s

26. MONDINI       Midland      1m28.833s

27. SATO          Super Aguri  1m29.870s
28. IDE           Super Aguri  1m31.042s