Bridgestone looks strong in Austria

Ferrari was quickest again, with Rubens Barrichello shading Michael Schumacher by 0.03s as both Ferraris ran with relatively heavy fuel loads.

"We have made our final choice of tyre already," said technical director Ross Brawn. "It was clear which one of the Bridgestones was better for us and it means that we can concentrate on working with just one tyre." Ferrari is understood to be running the softer Bridgestone.

Juan Pablo Montoya was just 0.06s adrift of the Ferrari pace with his Michelin-shod Williams but team mate Ralf Schumacher explained that the team still has not decided which of Michelin's two available tyres to run.

Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren was only fractionally slower than Montoya, also on Michelins, while Allan McNish's Toyota, Pedro de la Rosa's Jaguar and David Coulthard's McLaren gave the French company further top 10 representation. It can be taken as read, however, that both McNish and De la Rosa were running with low fuel.

There was also a marked difference between the two practice sessions, with no less than nine Bridgestone cars among the top 10 after the first hour of running. Some Michelin drivers reported graining, while others noticed a performance drop-off after a single lap without the tyres 'coming back in' again.

Michelin's Pierre Dupasquier admitted: "The low grip level here means we have to bring much softer tyres than we used in Barcelona, which is very abrasive. But we still have to be careful because there are a couple of corners that place extreme loads on tyres and it is vital not to go too far."