BMW lead in final practice

Jarno Trulli was third for Toyota, with a time close to those of the leading duo, and Nico Rosberg was fourth for Williams, ahead of his teammate Mark Webber. Jenson Button was sixth for Honda.

This meant, in terms of the tyre war, that the top six was divided equally between Michelin and Bridgestone runners, with the top two on the French-made rubber.

Defending world champion and current leader Fernando Alonso wound up in 16th place after doing 16 laps in his Renault on the same set of tyres, while his nearest competitor for this year's title, seven-time champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari, was 14th, having done only five laps.

David Coulthard was the first man out on the track with a quick time early in the session in his Red Bull-Ferrari, but it was not long before the pack closed in on another very warm day in Burgundy.

As the action intensified, the air temperature rose to 30 degrees Celsius and the track temperature passed 42 degrees.

The humidity level was 53 per cent, a factor that added to the discomfort of those hoping for a breeze after overnight thunderstorms had helped clear the previous day's torrid air.

The heat was most apparent for Ferrari as, soon after Schumacher had clocked the fastest time after 18 minutes, Felipe Massa in the second scarlet car spun and continued at the 180 degrees hairpin.

This unscheduled off-track romp was followed soon afterwards by the sight of fire extinguishers in use in the Ferrari pits as the team fought a blaze erupting from the engine of Schumacher's car.

Then Button, determined to make an impression for Honda, went top of the times and stayed there for some time before the final flurry when most drivers returned to the fray.

As this began, Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault went off and recovered to return to the track at the Imola chicane.

Trulli, in his Toyota, then went top but was removed almost immediately by Rosberg's Williams before the two BMW-Saubers took the top two places.

Alonso provided an unexpected moment of curiosity when he had problems at Adelaide hairpin and ran off the circuit, across the gravel and grass before returning to the track.

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:17.005           13
 2.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber          (M)  1:17.049 + 0.044   16
 3.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:17.056 + 0.051   18
 4.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:17.188 + 0.183   16
 5.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth   (B)  1:17.358 + 0.353   12
 6.  Button        Honda               (M)  1:17.476 + 0.471   19
 7.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:17.556 + 0.551   12
 8.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes    (M)  1:17.653 + 0.648   16
 9.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  1:17.666 + 0.661   18
10.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:17.859 + 0.854   19
11.  Fisichella    Renault             (M)  1:17.995 + 0.990   17
12.  Albers        MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:18.059 + 1.054   24
13.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:18.199 + 1.194   20
14.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari             (B)  1:18.214 + 1.209    5
15.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:18.396 + 1.391    8
16.  Alonso        Renault             (M)  1:18.447 + 1.442   16
17.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota          (B)  1:18.487 + 1.482   23
18.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M)  1:18.545 + 1.540   20
19.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari    (M)  1:18.631 + 1.626   17
20.  Barrichello   Honda               (M)  1:18.961 + 1.956   20
21.  Montagny      Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:19.497 + 2.492   18
22.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:21.497 + 4.492   10

All timing unofficial