Paul Ricard, day 4: Ralf on top

The German spent the morning working on set-ups for Austria and trying different brake materials before moving on to a long race simulation in the afternoon. The team has spent the last four days working intensively to improve the performance of the FW25, which so far this season, has been left short by its rivals.

The team also tested at Vairano today with relatively unknown 18-year-old Estonian driver Marko Asmer working on aero parts. It tried a variety of different items and is said to have made significant progress.

David Coulthard and Alexander Wurz, second and third quickest for McLaren, spent the day working on tyre compounds and constructions for Austria and Monaco, while Antonio Pizzonia, fourth quickest, continued to develop Jaguar's new front suspension.

"This set-up really suits my driving style better," said the Brazilian. "We didn't get to finish the programme though, so I don't how much of it we will be able to use at the next race. I also did a long run in the afternoon with the tyre compounds that Mark (Webber) had chosen and I think they should be good for us at the next race."

Interestingly, Webber was not so keen on the new front suspension layout according to sources.

Olivier Panis completed a massive 145 laps for Toyota as the team worked on reliability, tyres, balance and set-up. Team-mate Ricardo Zonta was seventh fastest behind BAR-Honda's Takuma Sato. Englishman Anthony Davidson was the final runner in the other BAR.

Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m11.578s 80
David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m11.710s 112
Alexander Wurz McLaren-Mercedes M 1m11.800s 87
Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar M 1m12.750s 91
Olivier Panis Toyota B 1m12.867s 145
Takuma Sato BAR-Honda B 1m13.284s 61
Ricardo Zonta Toyota M 1m13.368s 86
Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda B 1m13.804s 64

B = Bridgestone
M = Michelin