Free practice 3: Rubens flies

The Brazilian went four tenths quicker than the world champion and became the first driver to go under last year's pole in the process. David Coulthard was third for McLaren, a second off the pace-setting Ferrari, but 0.3s up on the fourth placed Williams of Ralf Schumacher.

There was a slow start to the session with just a handful of cars taking to track, however, proceedings were enlivened after 20 minutes when Mark Webber crossed the start/finish line in his Minardi. The Australian hit a small bump and as the PS02 rose into the air it parted company with its front wing. Webber had no choice but to run over his ex-bodywork, which scattered carbonfibre across the track. (For separate story, click here.)

The red flags came out almost straight away, but not before Enrique Bernoldi continued Arrows strong form by setting the quickest lap of the weekend so far.

After a short break to allow the circuit to be swept clean, the session was restarted. This time the big guns were quickly firing, and within minutes Michael Schumacher had obliterated Bernoldi's time, recording a lap just two tenths off last year's pole and almost two seconds quicker than anybody else had gone up to that point.

Barrichello emphasised Ferrari's advantage by recording a stunning lap of 1m18.048s two thirds of the way into the 45-minute session, and with ambient temperatures of just 13 degrees Celsius there was little hope of the Michelin-shod McLarens or Williams matching the Brazilian's pace.

Coulthard and Ralf improved late on to snatch third and fourth, ahead of the two Saubers, but Juan Pablo Montoya again struggled for pace and was back in ninth. Jenson Button was in touching distance of the McLarens in eighth, while Bernoldi held on to round out the top 10.

For full practice session 3 results, click here.