Raikkonen Fastest in Practice 4 - Canada
McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen claimed the fastest time of the weekend at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Saturday's final practice for the Canadian Grand Prix as he and Championship leader Fernando Alonso went head-to-head
Finn Raikkonen rose to the challenge set by Spaniard Alonso as he set his time of 1:14.232 in the dying seconds of the session to push himself 0.438 seconds clear of his Renault rival.
Raikkonen put in a strong performance to prove his McLaren team are the ones to beat here this weekend and his Colombian teammate Juan Pablo Montoya backed up his efforts with a third-best time of 1:14.745.
Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, in the second Renault, ensured the two Championship-leading teams filled the top four positions while Japanese BAR-Honda driver Takuma Sato claimed fifth.
Ralf Schumacher, who has been on pole for the last two years here, finished sixth for Toyota, pushing Briton Jenson Button down to seventh in the second BAR-Honda machine.
World Champion Michael Schumacher, who has won the last three races here, spun at turn seven during the session as he pushed to find the limits of his poorly performing Ferrari and finished the session in eighth place.
German Nick Heidfeld finished ninth fastest for Williams, a team that has gone well at this circuit in recent years, as he pipped tenth-placed teammate Mark Webber by almost two tenths.
Jordan driver Narain Karthikeyan, who has suffered a difficult weekend following criticism from team boss Colin Kolles, endured a trip across the gravel as he struggled with an ill-handling car.
Felipe Massa also kicked up the dust when he went across the kerbs at turn nine and Mark Webber went off track at turn eight, as did Alonso and Coulthard at the first corner and Christijan Albers spin right at the end.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:14.232 12 2. Alonso Renault (M) 1:14.670 + 0.438 15 3. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:14.745 + 0.513 13 4. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:14.746 + 0.514 19 5. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:14.883 + 0.651 16 6. R.Schumacher Toyota (M) 1:15.280 + 1.048 12 7. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:15.282 + 1.050 13 8. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:15.316 + 1.084 13 9. Heidfeld Williams-BMW (M) 1:15.723 + 1.491 11 10. Webber Williams-BMW (M) 1:15.894 + 1.662 14 11. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:15.995 + 1.763 14 12. Massa Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:16.020 + 1.788 13 13. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:16.063 + 1.831 8 14. Coulthard Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:16.341 + 2.109 15 15. Villeneuve Sauber-Petronas (M) 1:16.355 + 2.123 13 16. Klien Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:16.355 + 2.123 15 17. Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota (B) 1:17.215 + 2.983 12 18. Monteiro Jordan-Toyota (B) 1:17.618 + 3.386 19 19. Friesacher Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:17.621 + 3.389 13 20. Albers Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:17.725 + 3.493 14 All timing unofficial
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