Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Mika Hakkinen and Juan Pablo Montoya. Barrichello, Alesi, Coulthard, R Schumacher, Frentzen, de la Rosa and Heidfeld make the top 10.

60 min: Tomas Enge crashes heavily. Red Flags. He is OK

60 min: Final run ...

59 min: Heinz Harald Frentzen takes 8th from de la Rosa.

58 min: Pedro de la Rosa moves into 8th with a time of 1:38.555

57 min: Juan Pablo Montoya moves into 3rd place with a time of 1:37.974. Amazing!

55 min: Kimi Raikkonen is struggling today. He is in 16th place with a time of 1:40.197 while Heidfeld is in 8th with a time of 1:38.937.

54 min: Ralf Schumacher in 6th has so far covered the most number of laps with 18

53 min: Both Ralf and Montoya improve but remain in 6th and 7th with only 0.029 seconds between them!

52 min: The Suzuka track is a difficult track to learn. All the rookie drivers are having a hard time here except for Montoya!

51 min: Montoya again improves moving into 7th place just behind his team-mate!

50 min: Jean Alesi moves into 4th with a time of 1:38.157. Impressive!

49 min: Frentzen improves in 9th place with a time of 1:39.343

48 min: Montoya improves to 8th with a time of 1:39.092.

47 min: Montoya moves into 11th, 2 seconds off the pace. He is learning the track today.

45 min: Michael Schumacher improves in first with a time of 1:37.443. That is a second faster than the fastest time set on the 1st Friday practice last year.

44 min: Top 10 - M Schumacher, Hakkinen, Barrichello, Coulthard, R Schumacher, Heidfeld, Alesi, Frentzen, Fisichella and Villeneuve.

42 min: Coulthard takes 4th back with a time of  1:38.160.

40 min: Ralf Schumacher takes 4th from Coulthard with a time of 1:38.282.

38 min: Coulthard moves into 4th with a time of 1:38.708. All the drivers have now set lap times.

37 min: Coulthard is back on the track. Alonso is up in 16th!

36 min: Heinz Harald Frentzen moves into 7th in the Prost..

35 min: Barrichello moves into 3rd with a time of 1:38.032. Only Coulthard hasn't set a time yet.

34 min: Jean Alesi improves his time in 6th place and remains the best Honda runner.

33 min: Rubens Barrichello moves into 5th with a time of 1:39.014. 

32 min: Trulli moves into 8th while Button takes 10th. Coulthard aborted his flying lap and went back to the pits

31 min: Rubens Barrichello sets the 15th fastest time on his first timed lap. He is set to improve on his next lap. 

30 min: Mika Hakkinen improves but remains in second with a time of 1:37.798.

29 min: Top 10 - M Schumacher, Hakkinen, R Schumacher, Heidfeld, Alesi, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Montoya, Raikkonen and Trulli.

28 min: Michael Schumacher improves on his second run and tops the times with a 1:37.487.

27 min: Michael Schumacher moves into second just 0.012 seconds behind Hakkinen! Coulthard on track.

26 min: Mika Hakkinen moves straight to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1:37.984. Michael Schumacher on track to respond.

25 min: Fisichella moves into 4th with a time of 1:1:39.913. Raikkonen improves to 5th. Hakkinen on track.

24 min: Both Benettons are on the track while Ralf Schumacher improves in first to 1:38.777.

23 min: Top 10 - R Schumacher, Alesi, Montoya, Villeneuve, Irvine, de la Rosa, Frentzen, Raikkonen, Verstappen and Enge.

22 min: Jacques Villeneuve improves to 4th.

21 min: Jean Alesi moves into 2nd while Montoya moves into 3rd.

20 min: Jacques Villeneuve moves into 6th with a time of 1:42.230. Jean Alesi on track.

19 min: Ralf Schumacher goes fastest with a time of 1:38.876. That is over 2 seconds faster than Irvine's time!

18 min: Frentzen improves in 2nd with a time of 1:40.931 while Pedro de la Rosa takes 3rd with a time of 1:41.405

17 min: Montoya moves into 3rd with a time of 1:41.630. 

16 min: Eddie Irvine retakes the top spot with a time of 1:40.896. Montoya on track.

15 min: Fernando Alonso moves into 3rd with a time of 1:42.541

14 min: Frentzen goes fastest with a time of 1:41.321.

13 min: Both Prosts are on the track.

12 min: Eddie Irvine goes fastest with a time of 1:41.507 while Bernoldi improves to 1:43.110.

11 min: Alex Yoong sets a time of 1:46.790.

10 min: Enrique Bernoldi sets a time of 1:44.729. 

8 min: Alex Yoong and Enrique Bernoldi go back out on the track for their flying laps 

6 min: Rubens Barrichello makes it out on the track now for his installation lap.

4 min: Jean Alesi who announced his retirement from Formula 1 did 2 laps.

2 min: The drivers are now back in the pits. The Ferraris have yet to come out.

Session underway and most cars are out on their installation laps

Session starting at 11:00 AM local time. It is partly cloudy with the air temperature at 21 degrees.