Warm-up: Ferrari still on top

And just as in qualifying, it was the Brazilian who headed the times, despite a last-minute flier from the reigning world champion.

Barrichello was just two hundredths of a second quicker than Schumacher, indicating what a close race the pair could be in for today. The session also highlighted the speed differential from Ferrari to the rest of the field. Felipe Massa was the best of the rest, but his Sauber was still 0.7s slower.

Arrows pair Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi were both in the top six, sandwiching the other Sauber of Nick Heidfeld.

The session ran trouble-free for most of the drivers, but that was not the case for Ralf Schumacher. Mid-way through the half hour he ran off the track at the final corner. Then with six minutes to run, the Williams driver missed his braking for the third corner and was forced into the gravel again.

Schumacher was only 14th, but was still ahead of his team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya, who was down in 18th.

For full warm up results, click here.