Schumacher on top in practice 3

Schumacher set a time of 1:15.685 in the final minute of the session to beat Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella by five hundredths of a second.

World champion Fernando Alonso could only manage eighth after avoiding a potentially huge accident in front of a massive home crowd, when his Renault oversteered on entry to the fifth-gear Campsa corner.

The Spaniard managed to control the huge slide and lost only three tenths of a second as he put two wheels on the grass.

BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was third quickest with David Coulthard - on the eve of his 200th start - and Christian Klien behind him in their Red Bulls.

Jaqcues Villeneuve spun his BMW-Sauber off the circuit in the final minute of the session on his way to 17th overall.

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari             (B)  1:15.658           14
 2.  Fisichella    Renault             (M)  1:15.707 + 0.049   14
 3.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:16.057 + 0.399   13
 4.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:16.277 + 0.619   12
 5.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:16.352 + 0.694   16
 6.  Barrichello   Honda               (M)  1:16.399 + 0.741   16
 7.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:16.410 + 0.752   15
 8.  Alonso        Renault             (M)  1:16.595 + 0.937   10
 9.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:16.660 + 1.002    9
10.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:16.705 + 1.047    9
11.  Button        Honda               (M)  1:16.999 + 1.341   18
12.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:17.004 + 1.346   13
13.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  1:17.199 + 1.541   19
14.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:17.240 + 1.582   19
15.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:17.645 + 1.987   14
16.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:17.743 + 2.085   14
17.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:17.924 + 2.266   16
18.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:18.411 + 2.753   18
19.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:18.747 + 3.089   22
20.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:18.857 + 3.199   20
21.  Albers        MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:19.587 + 3.929   19
22.  Montagny      Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:20.031 + 4.373   24

All timing unofficial