Free Practice three: Rubens on top

The Brazilian edged out McLaren's David Coulthard to set the fastest time of the session with just three minutes to go. Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Jordan rounds off the top three, as he too set his quickest time right at the end of the session.

Championship leader Michael Schumacher and reigning champ Mika Hakkinen were fourth and fifth, with Ralf Schumacher in the WilliamsF1 doing well to be sixth quickest.

There was no sign of the rain that slightly hampered the F3000 qualifying session on Friday as the F1 practice session got underway. But there was relatively little action in the first 10 minutes, with only Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar and the Arrows pair of Pedro de la Rosa and Jos Verstappen running quick laps. Indeed, the only excitement was when de la Rosa almost lost his car on the last corner three minutes into the session - perhaps a sign of mishaps to come for the Arrows - and then the Minardi engine of Gaston Mazzacane blew, which put an end to the Argentinian's session.

But 15 minutes in, the session sprung to life. In a 10-minute period, the big four of Hakkinen, Barrichello then Coulthard and Schumacher vied for position at the top of the time sheets, with DC coming out on top with a 1m18.283 halfway into the session.

But then up popped Ralf Schumacher in the Williams to take provisional second. The extra wings the WilliamsBMW is sporting on the engine cover and sidepods must be working well as Schumacher Jr's team mate Jenson Button briefly held sixth. But Verstappen's woes continued as he took to the grass a second time.

With just six minutes of the session remaining, Hakkinen went out, but his flying lap was spoiled when he got caught behind the BAR of Jacques Villeneuve. Coulthard couldn't improve his best time, but as the session wound down, Barrichello made his mark with a 1m18.268s. Then Heinz-Harald Frentzen made his quickest run of the session to secure his third place.

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