Robert Kubica was in a class of his own when practice began for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal today as Michael Schumacher gave his chances a boost.
The BMW-Sauber test driver blitzed the field in the first one-hour practice session on the temporary track in the St Lawrence river, with Schumacher the fastest race driver in fourth.
Kubica, without pressure to conserve his engine, set a best lap of one minute 16.390 seconds, easily beating fellow tester Anthony Davidson, who gave beleaguered Honda some encouragement.
Honda's preparations for this weekend's race have been marred by the ousting of technical chief Geoff Willis, but Davidson returned the focus to on-track matters with second place.
Williams' Alex Wurz completed a clean sweep of the top three for Friday test drivers, half a second adrift of Davidson.
Schumacher's late lap pipped Rubens Barrichello to fourth spot and gave the seven-time world champion, who is 23 points adrift of Fernando Alonso, hope of an eighth win in Montreal.
World champion Alonso, like Renault team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella and Red Bull's David Coulthard, did not set a lap time, preferring instead to save his engine for later in the weekend.
Jenson Button, who arrives in Canada on the back of a disastrous British Grand Prix for Honda, was one of 17 drivers to set a time and was sixth fastest.
A largely uneventful session ended with drama when Midland's Tiago Monteiro slammed into the barrier at the final turn, the same wall which ended Button's race last year.
