Free practice 4: Ralf edges out DC

The German completed his lap just seconds after the McLaren had jumped to the top in a last-minute scramble following a brief pause in the session caused by a stranded car.

Felipe Massa was forced to park his Sauber with seven minutes of the session left, abandoning it at the side of the track on the super-fast run into the start/finish straight. It was soon decided that the car was in a dangerous position and out came the red flags.

But while the race stewards came to a decision to stop the session, the Renaults of Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli caused something of a surprise. The pair suddenly found a burst of speed, with Button going fastest and Trulli following close behind to go second. Both times were set while the marshals waved yellow flags to warn drivers of Massa's stranded car.

Their glory was short-lived. The session was restarted with four minutes left to run, and Coulthard and Schuey Jr both found enough to push the Renaults back to a still-impressive third and fourth (For more on Renault's performance, click here).

Michael Schumacher failed to improve on his pace-setting time from the morning session and dropped to fifth. He was just ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who did manage to improve, but remained slower than the Ferrari.

The other Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya was only seventh. Although the Colombian improved his time, he was frustrated by yellow flags during some of his runs.

Local hero Rubens Barrichello was only eighth - like his Ferrari team-mate, he failed to improve on his earlier time. Mika Salo's Toyota and Nick Heidfeld's Sauber rounded out the top 10.

The only major spin of the session befell Japanese rookie Takuma Sato. He lost control of his Jordan on the kerbs and gently nosed the EJ12 into a tyre barrier.

Qualifying takes place at 1600 (GMT).

For full practice session 4 results, click here.