Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard. Raikkonen, R. Schumacher, Montoya, Panis, Heidfeld, Massa and Trulli make the top 10.

54 Min: Session over.

52 Min: And Michael Schumacher does it again (1.26.202) more than two seconds faster than the lap record he set last year.

50 min: Only two minutes to go

48 Min: Barrichello is almost two seconds faster than last year's lap record.

46 Min: Ralf Schumacher in fourth now (1.28.262). Barrichello beats last year's pole! (1.26.561)

45 Min: Montoya gets a clear run and moves up into 4th.

43 Min: Cars are coming out. I wonder if Michael Schumacher will try to get on top in the last minutes of the session?

42 Min: Session restarted.

40 Min: Time is running out.

38 Min: As they are clearing the track Jordan must already be planning the rebuild of Sato's car. It is unlikely that this can be done before qualifying so he will have to use the spare car.

36 Min: Order is: Barrichello, Coulthard, Raikkonen, Panis, Massa, Trulli, Button, Heidfeld.

34 Min: Session stopped due to crash by Sato. He seems OK.

32 Min: M Schumacher out on track

30 Min: But not for long. Barrichello moves into the top (1.27.008) Faster than Schumacher yesterday.

29 Min: Order is: Coulthard, Raikkonen, Panis, Massa, Trulli and Button.

28 Min: Barrichello is out to defend Ferrari's position.

25 Min: Coulthard, the first of the leading teams to put in a fast lap (1.27.505) getting close to M Schumacher's best time yesterday. Raikkonen is only one third of a second behind him.

23 Min: Button is fastest! (1.28.881)

20 Min: Button and Bernoldi also faster than 1 min 30 seconds

18 Min: Panis and Frentzen both in the 1 min 29 seconds

16 Min: Frentzen into third (1.31.166)

14 Min: McNish (1.30.179) now fastest. Salo second fastest - an early move from the Toyota team.

12 Min: Fisichella is the fastest (1.32.569)

9 Min: Barrichello back in. Yoong is the only driver circulating but is well off yesterday's pace (around 1min 37 seconds)

7 Min: Barrichello is out on the track.

5 Min: Still have not seen Barrichello as the rest of the cars peel off back into the pits.

3 Min: Some 20 cars are out on the track but we expect them back in after only one or two laps before they try in anger.

0 Min: The sun breaks through as they line up. The two Minardis are out firs. Yoong is out on the track, followed by his teammate. The Jordans are out next.

-10 Min: It is a cool day with cloudy conditions. Although the track is dry there is a high probability of intermittent light rain throughout the day. 

All teams are busy in the pits. Will today be the day that McLaren shows some performance? Has Williams more speed up their sleeves? We'll know soon.

Session starting at 9:00 AM local time.