Following a reoccurrence of the back pain that was sparked by his accident at Indianapolis last month, Honda's Jenson Button will play no further part in today's action.

You may remember that the back pain caused the Englishman to miss his scheduled day at the Jerez test, though was recovered enough to complete 122 laps the following day.

The team has announced that "as a precaution", Button will sit out this afternoon's session, and will be replaced by Christian Klien.

It remains cool, overcast and thoroughly miserable here, with the air temperature at 18 degrees C, and the track temperature 23 degrees.

The lights go green and Schumacher is first out, followed by Davidson, Liuzzi and Kubica.

Schumacher posts the first time of the session but it's a disappointing 28.057, moments later five drivers have gone quicker, most notably Robert Kubica, who tops the timesheets with a 24.997.

As Klien heads down the pitlane, Schumacher goes quickest, crossing the line at 24.216.

As Mark Webber waits in the Red Bull garage, looking incredibly p****d off we hasten to add, Rosberg goes quickest (23.795) and Klien thirteenth.

As Heidfeld goes quickest, Alonso, Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen are all on track. It might be cold and miserable but at least the fans have something to watch.

Alonso posts 22.640 to go quickest, but moments later Hamilton posts 22.600. Meanwhile, Anthony Davidson goes third, the Englishman having a good day today, clearly fired up by his home crowd.

A 23.312 sees Massa go fifth, while Alonso re-takes the top spot with a 22.369.

Massa improves to second and Raikkonen goes third, elsewhere a massive lock-up for Barrichello.

Kimi Raikkonen goes quickest in the first sector and at the second split is 0.027s up on Massa who has just gone quickest. At the line the Finn posts 21.989 to go quickest, while Massa takes to the grass.

In his eagerness to get out of the way of Raikkonen, one of the Spykers almost loses it.
For a brief moment it causes the Finn to get out of shape, before opting to dive into the pits.

Fisichella pulls out all the stops and is rewarded with a 22.323, which is enough to put him third. Moments later, teammate Heikki Kovalainen goes sixth.

David Coulthard, who has just been confirmed for 2008, is pushing hard in the Red Bull. The Scotsman goes sixth (22.428), edging in between Kubica and Kovalainen.

This is one of the busiest Friday session of the year, as far as we can remember. After thirty minutes, everyone has completed at least 9 laps, with Davidson leading the way on 19.

Raikkonen is quickest, ahead of Massa, Schumacher, Trulli, Alonso and Fisichella.

Another wobbly moment for Hamilton, who just about keeps it under control. Meanwhile, Webber goes sixth with a 22.137, the Australian also retained by Red Bull for 2008.

A big, big moments for Kovalainen at Priory, who goes across the gravel trap and over part of the National Track. Elsewhere, Barrichello goes off at Abbey.

Trulli is pushing very hard, the Italian going fourth to give Toyota a 3-4. Elsewhere, Coulthard and Rosberg are on hot laps.

Hamilton and Massa are back on track, as Rosberg posts 21.619 to go fifth. Alex Wurz is also pushing hard, keen to improve on seventeenth. As the Austrian improves to sixth, Fernando Alonso begins a flying lap.

Schumacher is out of his car. He puts on a jacket and takes a place on the pitwall. It would appear that either he is supremely confident with his set-up, or else he has a problem. We go for the latter.

Raikkonen goes rally-cross, as Liuzzi finally looks like getting off the bottom of the timesheets. Sure enough, the Italian posts 23.563 to go twentieth.