Practice Session 3: Schumacher bounces back

The German's Ferrari set a best lap of 1m28.134s, 0.718s faster than David Coulthard's McLaren and an improvement of 0.831s on the fastest time set on Friday by his team mate Rubens Barrichello.

Schumacher had started the defence of his world title in spectacular fashion when he barrel-rolled at an estimated 120mph on the entry to Albert Park's Turn Six in Friday's second untimed session. He and Ferrari had criticised the condition of the circuits gravel traps, calling them uneven, but that didn't stop Schumacher leading the way in his first run out since the shunt.

Third behind Schumacher and Coulthard was the McLaren of Mika Hakkinen. Yesterday, the team said it had run with full tanks for most of both sessions. But with only one more session before this afternoon's all-important qualifying hour, expect the times to tumble in the next session.

Jordan continued to hold the Honda high ground, with Jarno Trulli pipping BAR's Jacques Villeneuve for fourth. Sixth and seventh saw the situation reversed, Olivier Panis's BAR just edging Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who suffered a lurid spin in the final third of the session.

Friday pace-setter Rubens Barrichello was only eighth overall after an engine blow-up halted his running early in the session.

Completing the top 10 were Williams newcomer Juan Pablo Montoya in ninth, two places ahead of team mate Ralf Schumacher, and Jaguar's Eddie Irvine in 10th.

At the blunt end of the field, Kimi Raikkonen's Sauber was 22nd and last after an off, with Jenson Button's Benetton marooned in 21st after stopping in the opening minutes of the session.

Those plucky Minardi boys continued to not know their expected place, with Fernando Alonso a creditable 18th and his F1-rusty team mate Tarso Marques 20th.

For full results from Saturday's first untimed session, click here.