Free practice 3: McLaren leads the way

Williams-BMW's Ralf Schumacher made it an all-Schuey second row, with local deity Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari and Juan Pablo Montoya's Ferrari fifth and sixth respectively.

Hakkinen's fastest time of 1m14.503s was quicker than Schuey's fastest lap from the 2000 GP, but still some way short of the 2000 pole time - a 1m 14.111s lap set by Hakkinen. However, extrapolating the fall in times so far, expect the 2000 benchmark to be easily bettered in this afternoon's single hour of qualifying (1700 BST)

With Williams dominating the first and third sector times and Ferrari the quickest in the second sector, McLaren's speed came from being merely good in all three. The team had been accused of deliberately running with low fuel loads by Eddie Jordan after yesterday's session, but with qualifying approaching and a truer picture emerging, it seems the previously under-achieving MP4-16s are genuinely getting their act together.

As in Malaysia, Williams-BMW and Michelin have found more speed relative to the Bridgestone-shod McLarens and Ferraris as the weekend has progressed. Montoya, especially, is a revelation in the high-speed sections of the Interlagos track, but the team must work on mid-lap handling if it is to challenge for pole.

Jordan-Honda filled out the fourth row, Jarno Trulli pipping Heinz-Harald Frentzen, with Sauber-Petronas making it four Ferrari-powered cars in the top 10 as Nick Heidfeld edged out team mate Kimi Raikkonen in ninth and 10th respectively.

Olivier Panis was 11th for BAR-Honda, with Jaguar's Eddie Irvine 12th after losing a mirror mid-way through the session. After having several computers stolen and then seeing team boss Bobby Rahal almost squashed by a falling TV camera, the team is enjoying an interesting weekend.

But perhaps Benetton would take some of that 'interest' in return for a bit of speed. The 201s of Giancarlo Fisichella, who stopped on the circuit, and Jenson Button finished the session in 18th and 21st, still hostage to the slowly-developing, wide-angle Renault V10 that powers them.

For full results from free practice 3, click here.