Practice 2: Raikkonen streets ahead

Williams ace Juan Pablo Montoya was second fastest, just three thousandths of a second faster than Mark Webber's Jaguar. The Australian had looked highly impressive on the opening day but a reflective time in qualifying was ruled out by a liberal coating of oil from Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Sauber just ahead of his run.

The top three runners were all Michelin-shod, in contrast to first qualifying when the quick times had come from Bridgestone cars. The grid battle in final qualifying this afternoon looks set to be an epic, with just four tenths covering second-placed Montoya down to team-mate Ralf Schumacher, who completed the top 10.

Michael Schumacher was fourth quickest in the Ferrari, marginally faster than Jarno Trulli's Renault. Fernando Alonso, after a ragged start on Thursday, is still having his fair share of trouble around the streets of the Principality. He had a straight-on moment at Rascasse, without damage, but then ended the session early with a trip into the tyre barrier on the exit of the revised Swimming Pool complex. The Spaniard ended up 17th.

The new section of circuit is tight, and cars running wide over low kerbing lose their steering and have a tendency to be pitched into the tyre wall. We have already seen it in F3000 qualifying and it could well catch out those pushing too hard in this afternoon's session.

Behind Trulli, Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari, the BAR-Hondas of Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve, David Coulthard's McLaren and Schumacher Jr completed the top 10.