Third driver Ricardo Zonta (1m14.893s) finished the two sessions with third fastest time around the 4.574km circuit, which hosts its fourth German Grand Prix since being substantially modified. Zonta’s time compared with the 1m13.973s and 1m14.576s laps from the pace-setting West McLaren Mercedes cars of Alexander Wurz and Kimi Raikkonen respectively.

“It was a productive day, “ Zonta said, “with a little bit more urgency about it in the first session because we thought that rain might cut short our track time. In the end, it didn’t, and I was also able to get through the programme of long runs to check tyre degradation. I put a new set of tyres on at the end to do a quick lap, but hit traffic and lost the best part of a second.”

Jarno Trulli added: “It was a typical Friday practice with no mechanical problems on any of the cars. It was a good day but we still need to look carefully before making the tyre choice.”

Ralf Schumacher, of course, is performing in front of his home fans and the Hockenheim race is the second chance for the employees of TMG in Cologne to come to the track and see the TF105s performing.

Schumacher comes to Hockenheim after a three-day test at Jerez, where he worked with his race engineer on car set-up.

“It was mainly because in the aftermath of my accident at Indianapolis I had not been able to test much, and so it was a good opportunity to do that before the start of the summer testing ban,” Schumacher said. “We showed good pace towards the end of the last race and we will be doing our best to put on a good show in front of the German public.”

Championship leader Fernando Alonso (1m15.560s) set fourth fastest time, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya (1m15.772s) with the third McLaren and Jenson Button’s Lucky Strike BAR Honda (1m15.851s).

Technical Director, Chassis, Mike Gascoyne, explained that the tyre selection at Hockenheim was complicated by some doubts over the weather, with showers expected.

“It was not hot today and if you blistered rubber you are going to be in trouble,” he said. “We didn’t, but I think some people did. Tyre choice needs a bit of thinking about. It’s not clear-cut. The prime tyre looks very consistent but it seems difficult to warm up. The option is quicker on the first lap but less consistent. We need to weigh one against the other and really know where the track is going to go and the weather.

“The problem is that you can choose the soft tyre and it will be better for qualifying but if the weather is showery, you might also have problems with tyre graining. The prime tyre won’t grain but you might not be able to warm it up. Without a very accurate knowledge of what the weather will do, and when, it’s quite a tricky call.”

With Trulli using the same engine for the third successive race at Silverstone – because the planned Indianapolis mileage was never used – both race drivers have new Toyota V10s of the very latest specification at Hockenheim.