De la Rosa Wary of Rain Threat

Spanish driver Pedro de la Rosa is hoping the weather stays dry in Austria in order to extract the maximum from his Cosworth-powered car.

De la Rosa, yet to score a point this year for the struggling Milton Keynes team, enjoyed a promising practice on Friday at the A1-Ring circuit, posting the seventh quickest time of the day, less than a second off Rubens Barrichello's pace.

The Jaguar driver was satisfied with the set-up of his R3 chassis, but admitted he is wary of the rain in the remaining part of the weekend.

"We ran our normal programme today and I am quite happy with the balance of the car," explained de la Rosa. "This is a strange circuit in the way that the track temperature changes so much between sessions.

"On top of that, you always have to acknowledge the high chance of rain â€" something that we obviously want to avoid at all costs."

Irishman Eddie Irvine enjoyed a trouble-free day to post the eleventh quickest time, some three tenths of a second behind teammate de la Rosa.