Free practice 3: Williams again

In a late flurry of activity at the end of Saturday's first free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix, Juan Pablo Montoya continued to underline the Williams-BMWs as the cars to beat by comfortably topping the time sheets ahead of Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari

Following heavy overnight rain, the teams were greeted with bright sunshine and a damp Monza track, causing most drivers to go out on intermediate tyres at the beginning of the session. However, a dry line soon developed and grooved rubber was the order of the day after the halfway point.

The Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen dominated the times for most of the session as the pair tried to make up for their lack of running yesterday (Friday) following an accident apiece in the first session.

However, with less than 10 minutes to go Montoya jumped to the number one slot with a lap of 1m25.558s, just under a second behind team mate Ralf Schumacher's fastest time from Friday.

While team leader Michael Schumacher completed just one installation lap, Barrichello did the rest of the Ferrari running and wound up just over three tenths behind Montoya in his black-nosed F2001.

Pedro de la Rosa continued his pace from Friday and finished third fastest for Jaguar, which has decided to follow Ferrari's lead and run with a blacked out engine cover as a mark of respect for the American tragedies.

Next up were the BAR-Hondas of Jacques Villeneuve and Oiliver Panis, with 1997 world champion Villeneuve leading the way in fourth spot. After leading the way early on, Raikkonen finished sixth just ahead of Eddie Irvine in the second Jaguar.

With the track continuing to dry out, much more activity can be expected in the second session as drivers put the finishing touches to their set-ups before qualifying at 1200 BST.

For full results click here.