Barca 4: BAR duo on top

Button lapped his BAR in 1m15.079s, just over two-tenths clear of his Japanese team-mate. Both shared a new car and, for the final time, the hybrid chassis that served the team so well over the winter. Each set their fastest time in the latest 006. It wasn't all good news, as Button was forced to stop at the end of the pit lane near the end of the day (just before the heavens opened) with a suspected engine problem.

Schumacher was third fastest at 1m15.625s, two-tenths ahead of McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa, who was a gnat's whisker quicker than Jaguar's Mark Webber, who completed an amazing 120 laps. Sixth fastest was Williams test driver Marc Gene, whose services were called upon when Ralf Schumacher retired hurt with an upper back/shoulder problem. Gene got through a mammoth 104 laps, which Ralf obviously didn't fancy...

McLaren tester Alexander Wurz was next up, three tenths clear of Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, who was only able to complete 29 laps. IRL champion Scott Dixon was also troubled, as the right-rear suspension of his Williams collapsed on the exit of a corner, sending him into a spin. He completed 53 laps and wound up ninth fastest for the third day running.

Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella was slowest on the day, not even managing to eclipse the injured Schumacher brother during his 78 laps.

Jenson Button BAR-Honda M 1m15.079s 73 (32 in hybrid)
Takuma Sato BAR-Honda M 1m15.304s 93 (43 in hybrid)
Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 1m15.625s 76
Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes M 1m15.812s 73
Mark Webber Jaguar M 1m15.886s 120
Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m15.948s 104
Alexander Wurz McLaren-Mercedes M 1m16.268s 61
Rubens Barrichello Ferrari B 1m16.515s 29
Scott Dixon Williams-BMW M 1m16.621s 53
Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m17.191s 5
Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas B 1m17.244s 78