Brawn's Rubens Barrichello top after opening free practice at European GP

Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello topped the times for Brawn GP after the opening free practice session for this weekend's European Grand Prix.

The 37-year-old Barrichello clocked a best time of one minute and 42.460 seconds around the Mediterranean harbour street circuit with 15 minutes remaining on a hot morning in eastern Spain.

Finn Heikki Kovalainen was second fastest for McLaren ahead of his team-mate, defending drivers world champion Lewis Hamilton of Britain, who won his first race of the season at last month's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Championship-leading Briton Jenson Button was fourth in the second Brawn at the conclusion of an eventful morning's action which ended with Barrichello's car struggling with gearbox problems as he went for an even faster lap time.

Button was fastest for a long period during the morning, but ended up six-tenths of a second off Barrichello's pace, but the duo's overall performance suggested that Brawn have rediscovered some of their best form after three races in the doldrums.

German Sebastian Vettel was the top Red Bull driver in fifth position ahead of compatriot Adrian Sutil, who was sixth for the much-improved Force India team.

Japanese Kaazuki Nakajima was seventh for Williams ahead of Australian Mark Webber in the second Red Bull with two-times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault and Finn Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari completing the top ten.

The session saw a flurry of incidents, but no serious accidents, as many drivers ran wide over the kerbs on the dusty asphalt circuit.

French debutant Romain Grosjean of Renault was 17th, more than a second slower than team-mate Alonso and veteran comeback driver Italian Luca Badoer, replacing injured Brazilian Felipe Massa for Ferrari, was 20th, two seconds down on Raikkonen.

Crash ends Raikkonen's WRC debut

Kimi Raikkonen has competed in three non-championship rallies this year

Kimi Raikkonen's debut in the World Rally Championship came to an end after the former Formula 1 champion crashed out of stage 19 of the Rally Finland.

The Finn was 15th overall when he rolled his Abarth Grande Punto off the road on Saturday's final stage.

He and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom were unhurt, although they narrowly missed the car of Mads Ostberg who had gone off at the same point moments earlier.

The damage to Raikkonen's car prevented the Ferrari driver returning on Sunday.

Raikkonen has appeared in three non-championship rallies this season, and a four-week break between the Hungarian Grand Prix and the European Grand Prix in Valencia on 21 August has allowed him to step up his involvement.

In a disappointing F1 season, Raikkonen has won just 10 points in the drivers' championship and 54 behind leader Jenson Button.

But his speed in the second-tier Super 2000 machine impressed as he climbed up to third in the category before his error ended his race.

Raikkonen's compatriot Mikko Hirvonen secured a victory for the home fans coming home 25 seconds ahead of title rival Sebastian Loeb.

World champion Loeb, who lost more than 10 seconds after damaging his rear tyre in a pothole on a hairpin on stage 15, now trails Hirvonen by three points in the overall standings.

Raikkonen was not the only F1 driver at the Finland Rally with Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel watching from the sidelines.

"I've plenty to do in F1, but who know maybe one day I will compete in the WRC - I wouldn't mind doing some drives in the future," Vettel told the World Rally Championship website.