Michael Schumacher showed that Ferrari could be a force in this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix, whcih marks the start of the European leg of the championship.
Schumacher set the fastest lap of 1:24.751 in the first practice, completing a total of four laps - two when you take into account a warm up and cool down lap.
In the afternoon session, defending race champion Fernando Alonso was quickest in a time of 1:25.043. The Spaniard failed to set a time in the first practice, electing to go out for three tours of the circuit before parking it in the garage to preserve the Renault engine.
Schumacher finished 3-10ths of a second behind Alonso in the afternoon session with BMW-Sauber test driver Robert Kubica third quickest followed by Honda test driver Anthony Davidson and Ferrari driver Felipe Massa rounding out the top five.
Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault, which is fitted with a brand new engine this weekend, was sixth fastest, followed by Toyota's Jarno Trulli. The top seven drivers were all within a second of the best time set by Alonso.
Williams test driver Alexander Wurz set the eighth fastest time with Juan Pablo Montoya in ninth and BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld in 10th.
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve was 15th fastest in a time of 1:26.797, which was 1.7-seconds off the pace set by Alonso. Villeneuve was among a handful of drivers who failed to set a time in the opening practice.
SECOND PRACTICE Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Alonso Renault (M) 1:25.043 15 2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:25.371 + 0.328 13 3. Kubica BMW-Sauber (M) 1:25.421 + 0.378 31 4. Davidson Honda (M) 1:25.699 + 0.656 31 5. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:25.879 + 0.836 16 6. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:25.991 + 0.948 15 7. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:26.029 + 0.986 24 8. Wurz Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:26.328 + 1.285 31 9. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:26.334 + 1.291 15 10. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (M) 1:26.387 + 1.344 7 11. Button Honda (M) 1:26.427 + 1.384 12 12. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:26.500 + 1.457 16 13. Barrichello Honda (M) 1:26.653 + 1.610 19 14. Albers MF1-Toyota (B) 1:26.783 + 1.740 24 15. Villeneuve BMW-Sauber (M) 1:26.797 + 1.754 13 16. Doornbos Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:26.917 + 1.874 27 17. Rosberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:26.989 + 1.946 10 18. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:27.128 + 2.085 24 19. Webber Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:27.157 + 2.114 6 20. Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:27.503 + 2.460 12 21. Monteiro MF1-Toyota (B) 1:27.544 + 2.501 20 22. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:27.639 + 2.596 5 23. Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:27.719 + 2.676 25 24. Klien Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:27.990 + 2.947 12 25. Jani Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:28.361 + 3.318 21 26. Mondini MF1-Toyota (B) 1:28.833 + 3.790 27 27. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:29.870 + 4.827 23 28. Ide Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:31.042 + 5.999 20 FIRST PRACTICE Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:24.751 4 2. Wurz Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:25.132 + 0.381 19 3. Kubica BMW-Sauber (M) 1:25.942 + 1.191 24 4. Davidson Honda (M) 1:26.012 + 1.261 27 5. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:26.417 + 1.666 7 6. Doornbos Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:26.498 + 1.747 18 7. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:26.596 + 1.845 4 8. Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:26.678 + 1.927 7 9. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:26.938 + 2.187 5 10. Albers MF1-Toyota (B) 1:28.048 + 3.297 13 11. Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:28.498 + 3.747 6 12. Mondini MF1-Toyota (B) 1:28.969 + 4.218 20 13. Klien Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:29.106 + 4.355 6 14. Jani Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:29.695 + 4.944 13 15. Monteiro MF1-Toyota (B) 1:29.697 + 4.946 13 16. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:30.348 + 5.597 6 17. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:31.217 + 6.466 17 18. Ide Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:31.482 + 6.731 17 19. Alonso Renault (M) no time 3 20. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) no time 1 21. Fisichella Renault (M) no time 2 22. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) no time 1 23. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (M) no time 1 24. Villeneuve BMW-Sauber (M) no time 1 25. Barrichello Honda (M) no time 1 26. Webber Williams-Cosworth (B) no time 27. Rosberg Williams-Cosworth (B) no time 28. Button Honda (M) no time