Massa hits champs' wall

Contact with the wall caused the Brazilian to forsake vital track time, and he ended the day 16th fastest overall.

"This morning I hit the wall hard in the last corner and needed to have some work done on the suspension," he said. "This afternoon I lost the edge from my set of new tyres, first of all because Ralf went off the track right in front of me, and then because I came across Davidson's crashed BAR under the yellow flags and had to slow down to avoid a penalty. Considering that, I'm really pleased how well the car went without the benefit of fresh tyres."

Team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella, 10th fastest today, said: "We are much closer than normal to the red cars, having made some small but successful changes to the set-up after the morning session. The balance was getting better all the time, and though we still need to improve it a bit I'm quite pleased and am feeling quietly optimistic for qualifying and the race."