Finn on a flyer as Briscoe escapes injury in high-speed crash
Raikkonen set a time of 1.44.701 secs to head the field as world champion Michael Schumacher failed to find his form and finished behind Briton Jenson Button in third place after an uncharacteristic spin.
But Toyota test driver Briscoe made the headlines when he escaped unharmed after crashing his car at the notorious Eau Rouge corner with 15 minutes of the afternoon session completed. The Australian, who was promoted to the third driver role at the last race in Hungary, had an unpleasant introduction to the classic Belgian circuit when he lost control as he accelerated down the hill towards the flat-out turn. He lost two wheels in an initial impact before flying across the track and colliding with the tyre barriers on the opposite side of the track while one wheel continued bouncing down the track.
Briscoe gave a thumbs-up signal to the crowd once he climbed out of the car, but the session, which was headed at the time by BAR-Honda test driver Anthony Davidson, was stopped for seven minutes while the debris was cleared.
McLaren-Mercedes driver Raikkonen finished 0.314 seconds ahead of British BAR-Honda driver Button with Schumacher, finishing 0.436 seconds down.
Schumacher had a minor spin at turn 14but he was able to continue back to the pits undeterred.
Scot David Coulthard also showed McLaren could be strong here when he backed up Raikkonen’s session-leading time with a lap good enough for sixth-fastest ahead of the lead Williams-BMW of Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia in seventh.
Pizzonia, who is in as a replacement for the injured Ralf Schumacher for the third consecutive race, finished more than a tenth faster than team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, of Colombia, who finished tenth.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello finished eighth fastest for Ferrari with Spaniard Fernando Alonso ninth in the lead Renault. The Saubers of Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella hovered on the brink of the top 10, followed by the Jaguar of Mark Webber and the Toyotas of Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta.
