Formula One: Schumacher Jnr sets early pace

Germany’s Ralf Schumacher swept to the top of the time-sheets when practice resumed for the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo this morning.

Schumacher had been sent to bed - he is staying at the hotel just opened by David Coulthard - after a fierce crash in his Williams on the opening day last Thursday.

The 25-year-old showed yesterday’s day off had done him the world of good as he finished just over 0.1 secs ahead of BAR’s Jacques Villeneuve in an incident-filled session.

Coulthard, who won the race last year, had to settle for third spot but he was just ahead of title rival Michael Schumacher, winner in Monte Carlo in four of the last seven years.

Sauber’s Kimi Raikkonen was fifth fastest in another impressive showing by the young Finn with Eddie Irvine sixth for Jaguar Racing while Jenson Button was 14th for Benetton.

The 45-minute session was halted for 17 minutes at the mid-way point after the engine of Dutch driver Jos Verstappen’s Arrows car blew up and dumped oil on the track at Rascasse.

As marshals pushed him back to the garage, the engine continued to spew out oil and left a trail all along the pit-lane forcing all the teams to clean up the area in front of their garages.

It was not the best of sessions for Arrows as Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi had to come back in when petrol started pouring into the cockpit during the warm-up lap. Predictably Verstappen finished 20th and Bernoldi 22nd.

The duo were split at the bottom of the time-sheets by McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen, fastest when practice began last Thursday, after the Finn was restricted to just a couple of laps.

Brazil’s Luciano Burti also suffered a spectacular crash when he overshot the first corner, Sainte-Devote, in his Prost and slammed into the tyre barriers in the run-off area.

Former Jaguar Racing driver Burti’s car was badly damaged and had a couple of wheels ripped off, but he was able to step from the cockpit.