Free practice 3: Ferrari back on top

The Ferrari team came back to dash any hopes of McLaren the upper hand in Malaysia by finishing one-two at the top of the time sheets in the penultimate free practice before qualifying, with a late lap from Rubens Barrichello putting him ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher

McLaren comfortably finished at the top yesterday (Friday) with new boy Kimi Raikkonen ahead of David Coulthard, but Ferrari showed that their Bridgestone tyres were just as effective in the Sepang heat as the Michelins of their rivals during Saturday's first practice.

The 45-minute session offered little drama. The frontrunners opted to keep out of the humid conditions and did not take to the track until well beyond the halfway mark. Coulthard set the early pace with a 1m38.881s lap, but the Scot was quickly knocked off the top by the Williams-BMW of Ralf Schumacher.

Coulthard ended the session one place behind Schumacher Jr in seventh and was once again outpaced by his team-mate Raikkonen, who was closest to the Ferraris in third and set the fastest middle sector time by almost a second.

World Champion Schumacher looked set to dominate after going half a second faster than the rest of the field on his first flying lap, but a last ditch effort from Barrichello put the Brazilian ahead by 0.314sec.

Juan Pablo Montoya in the second Williams looked to be gunning for a top slot, but the Colombian lost time in the final sector on his fastest lap and wound up fourth.

Surprise of the session was Jenson Button who finished fourth fastest in his Renault, eight places ahead of team-mate Jarno Trulli.

At the blunter end, Jaguar Racing continued to struggle with Eddie Irvine mixing it with the Minardis in 20th place. Pedro de la Rosa was ahead in 17th behind the wheel of a more modified version of the recalcitrant R3.

For full free practice 3 times, click here.