Practice 3: Schu in charge

Schumacher produced his 1m15.066s on his final lap of the session, having earlier taken a trip through the gravel at the ultra-fast Mobil Kurve which leads into the Motordrome. That was the site of Sato's shunt, as the Japanese driver's BAR-Honda swapped ends on him without warning as he ran over the kerbs. He did a good job of keeping it out of the wall until the following Sachskurve hairpin, where he removed the right-front wheel against the wall and a whole host of Bridgestone hoardings in the process. He was unhurt.

Juan Pablo Montoya set the second fastest time for Williams-BMW, two-tenths shy of Schumacher. He was a fraction quicker than the second Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello, while Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) and Jenson Button (BAR) were next up.

Olivier Panis was sixth fastest for Toyota, with David Coulthard seventh although the McLaren man was fortunate not to emulate Sato's shunt on the exit of Mobil. The Scot's MP4-19B was on the lock-stops as he slid over the kerbs, and then he did a great job of holding it all together as it tankslapped down the following straight.

Antonio Pizzonia was eighth in the second Williams, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella's Sauber and Jarno Trulli in the first of the somewhat disappointing Renaults.

For the second successive day a session was red flagged for a Jordan losing its front wing at Turn 1. This time it was Giorgio Pantano, who emulated test driver Timo Glock yesterday by taking too much kerb on the apex of the bend and clipping the bollard on the inside. Unlike Glock, however, Pantano's wing became wedged under his front wheels, causing him to plough across the run-off and gently nudge the tyrewall.

Following that red flag, Minardi's Zsolt Baumgartner did exactly the same thing and caused another one. His right-front wheel hopped over the dislodged wing this time, allowing him the steering ability to keep out of the wall and cruise back to the pits.

Affairs at Williams were overseen by Ralf Schumacher, who appears remarkably well and in good spirits. As for any signs if he might be suffering any long-term concussion effects, he turned up at the Formula 1 paddock entrance without his pass... Ralf was soon equipped with a requisite hardcard and a headset for his day off at the races.