Alesi begins final weekend on top.

Jean Alesi surprised the Formula One establishment - and underlined what talent the category will be missing next season - by taking fastest time of the day in free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

The French veteran took his Jordan-Honda around Suzuka in a time of 1min 35.454secs to give the 'home' team something to cheer, as he prepares to bid farewell to the grands prix scene after ten years.

Alesi led Williams' star Juan Montoya and Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa in an unexpected top three, as the McLarens and Ferraris fell away from the top of the times as they concentrated on race and qualifying set-up work. Mika Hakkinen was the best placed of the expected frontrunners, in fourth, but Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello trailed David Coulthard in eighth and tenth respectively.

Times continued to tumble throughout the session, which was again interrupted by a red flag, and only 22nd place man Tomas Enge was unable to improve, having had to sit out the session following the incident which curtailed the opening hour. Although the Czech was generally okay, he complained of a sore neck and was advised to rest while the Prost mechanics rebuilt his broken AP04.

Worse was to befall Sauber's Nick Heidfeld second time around, however, the young German slamming his C20 off the road and having to leave the scene in the back of the medical car. He is understood to have been shaken up in the incident, but was able to extract himself from the wreck before being attended to by the medics.

Alesi, too, had a big spin, towards the end of the hour, but was able to resume and watch as his rivals tried, and failed, to beat his time. Heidfeld's stoppage, however, added extra minutes to the session, and it was in the first of these that the Frenchman sped across the line to depose Montoya from top spot.

The Colombian had risen to the head of the field prior to Heidfeld's misdemeanour, and looked good for fastest time despite Michelin's supposed disadvantage at Suzuka. A minor improvement from the Williams' man would have been good enough to keep him on top had it not been for Alesi's unexpected pace in the Jordan, as he headed de la Rosa by just under two-tenths of a second. The Spaniard traded laps with Alesi in the closing stages before settling for third as Alesi moved ahead of Montoya.

Hakkinen held on to fourth in what will be his final Friday session for at least a year, making it a good day for those saying farewell to the formula. The Finn, like rivals Schumacher and Barrichello, spent most of the session concentrating on set-up for the rest of the weekend, but still managed to shave over a second off his earlier time. This was good enough to keep him ahead of the second Prost of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, which made the most of its Ferrari power to take fifth.

Eddie Irvine made it two Jaguars in the top six as he completed 40 laps - second only to Montoya's 41 - over the two hours. His first flying effort of the session was enough to depose Michael Schumacher from the head of the leaderboard, and his last good enough to keep him ahead of his former Ferrari team-mate at the end.

Coulthard found 1.5secs in his McLaren, but problems which restricted him to the pits mid-session, and put him in the gravel towards the end, also kept him out of the top five. The Scot placed just ahead of former title rival Schumacher, and slightly further ahead of the man now trying to take second place from him in the points race, Rubens Barrichello.

The two Ferraris were split by Ralf Schumacher's Williams, the German again overshadowed by team-mate Montoya to the tune of almost a second.

There were problems, too, for Benetton, which saw both its cars end the session prematurely with engine failures. Giancarlo Fisichella managed to stop with just smoke emanating from his Renault V10, but Jenson Button put on more of a show, with flames marking the demise of his. This was not before the beleaguered Brit had put the improving B201 into eleventh spot, however, five places ahead of his departing team-mate.

Fisichella also trailed the man with whom he swaps seats next year, Jarno Trulli, despite the Jordan man not really making any ground in the overall scheme of things. Thirteenth in the first session translated into 13th in the second, as the Italian remained inextricably linked to Jacques Villeneuve's similarly-powered BAR. Almost half a second separated the two Honda-engined cars, however, as the Japanese marque thanked Alesi for salvaging some pride in front of its home crowd.

Olivier Panis was the worst of the Honda runners, slipping behind Minardi's Fernando Alonso in much the same way as Villeneuve had in America two weeks ago. The young Spaniard again belied the lack of power being produced by his European engine to take an impressive 17th overall behind Fisichella.

Team-mate Alex Yoong, racing an F1 car in front of an Asian crowd for the first time, moved off the bottom of the order courtesy of Enge's absence, and lapped just a second from Alonso's pace as he tailed the two Arrows cars in 21st place.

Friday Free Practice - Combined sessions - Japanese Grand Prix.

1. Jean Alesi France Jordan-Honda 1min 35.454secs
2. Juan Montoya Britain Williams-BMW 1min 35.977secs
3. Pedro de la Rosa Spain Jaguar-Cosworth 1min 36.225secs
4. Mika Hakkinen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1min 36.430secs
5. Heinz-Harald Frentzen Brazil Prost-Acer 1min 36.439secs
6. Eddie Irvine Britain Jaguar-Cosworth 1min 36.589secs
7. David Coulthard Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1min 36.638secs
8. Michael Schumacher Germany Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 36.727secs
9. Ralf Schumacher Germany Williams-BMW 1min 36.874secs
10. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 36.994secs
11. Jenson Button Britain Benetton-Renault 1min 37.645secs
12. Nick Heidfeld Germany Sauber-Petronas 1min 37.665secs
13. Jarno Trulli Italy Jordan-Honda 1min 37.965secs
14. Jacques Villeneuve Canada BAR-Honda 1min 38.312secs
15. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Sauber-Petronas 1min 38.315secs
16. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Benetton-Renault 1min 38.398secs
17. Fernando Alonso Spain Minardi-European 1min 38.961secs
18. Olivier Panis France BAR-Honda 1min 39.108secs
19. Jos Verstappen Holland Arrows-Asiatech 1min 39.511secs
20. Enrique Bernoldi Brazil Arrows-Asiatech 1min 39.744secs
21. Alex Yoong Malaysia Minardi-European 1min 39.952secs22. Tomas Enge Czech Republic Prost-Acer 1min 41.216secs

[107 per cent time: 1min 42.135secs]
[Details in italics denote no improvement in second session]