Practice 4: Williams pair aim for pole

Schumacher eclipsed the best time of his Colombian team-mate with just three minutes of the session remaining, as his Michelin-shod car became the first of the weekend to break below the 1m34s barrier with a time of 1m33.969s.

Montoya had been the first to improve past Michael Schumacher's quickest mark from the first session of the morning, immediately flying round in 1m34.301s. But his later second effort was ruined by a slight off on the fast figure-of-eight circuit.

Behind the Williams duo it was also a good morning for the British drivers, as McLaren's David Coulthard improved to rise to third in the times, while Jenson Button gave the Benetton team a big boost by setting the fifth fastest time.

They sandwiched world champion Michael Schumacher, who failed to improve on his 1m34.711s lap set in the morning's first session. His Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello and McLaren Mika Hakkinen were others who did not go quicker, falling to ninth and eighth overall as a result.

Others moving up to order included Jordan's Jarno Trulli in sixth, the last to break into the 1m34s, while Nick Heidfeld brought his Sauber up to seventh.

For combined practice results click here.