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Prac 3: Williams duo on top

WilliamsBMW's Ralf Schumacher looks to have put his injury sustained at the United States Grand Prix in June well and truly behind him behind him as he headed to the top of the timesheets in the first free practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday. Team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya made it a 1-2 for Williams as the pair outshone Ferrari duo Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, who were third and fourth respectively

Montoya looked certain to hold the top spot, but a late flying effort by Schumacher Jr in the dying seconds of the session ensured he got one over on his Colombian team-mate.

Despite being outpace by the Williams, third and fourth was a vast improvement for Ferrari, particularly Schumacher Sr, who found himself down the order in both practice sessions on Friday. Technical chief Ross Brawn admitted yesterday that the team was not where it wanted to be and promised to come up with some answers overnight.

Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella has placed himself high in the order with the fifth quickest time, clearly building on his solid effort in Friday's session. The Italian outclassed the McLarens and the BARs, who both performed well yesterday on the 'green' circuit. Kimi Raikkonen was sixth quickest this morning while team-mate David Coulthard was ninth. The Scot had a brief trip across the gravel coming out of the banked corner that leads onto the back straight in the remaining minutes of the session as he pushed the MP4-19B to its limits.

Stars of the show yesterday, BAR, were out of the picture in this first session with Jenson Button in eighth behind the Toyota of Ricardo Zonta while Takuma Sato, who will be docked 10 places after qualifying this afternoon due to an engine change, was 12th quickest.

Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve has moved up the order after his disappointing efforts on Friday. Today he was nearly three tenths quicker than team-mate Fernando Alonso in 10th spot.

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