Jerez 5: Heidfeld in the wet

The German, who is now the only driver running for Williams after Antonio Pizzonia rushed off for the birth of his first child on Friday, edged out Franck Montagny in the Renault by almost one second.

Although the weather that greeted the teams was some of the best experienced during the week, Michelin had already decided to get some wet weather running under its belt and soaked the track to varying levels through the day.

All the teams present continued to take varying approaches to the levels of downforce they were running as they continued preparations for 2005. Heidfeld ran with just low-downforce wings to simulate conditions expected next year, while several runners, including Renault and BAR, opted also to run with cut-down versions of their diffusers.

Nick Heidfeld (Williams), 1m27.783s, 102 laps
Franck Montagny (Renault), 1m28.630s, 85 laps
Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren), 1m28.661s, 91 laps
Christian Klien (Red Bull Racing), 1m29.330s, 84 laps
Ricardo Zonta (Toyota), 1m29.600s, 60 laps
Takuma Sato (BAR), 1m29.873s, 102 laps