Sunday Warm-Up - US GP

World Champion Michael Schumacher continued his clean sweep at the top of the Indianapolis timesheets this morning when he claimed the fastest time in the warm-up for the United States Grand Prix.

The Ferrari ace, who so far appears unbeatable around the 4.192km road course at the Motor Speedway, shot to a top time of 1:13.183 as he went faster and faster with ease.

Pole sitter Schumacher's teammate and front row partner Rubens Barrichello ensured another Ferrari one-two by finishing 0.138 seconds behind the German and 0.150 seconds faster than third placed Frenchman Olivier Panis of BAR Honda.

Jordan's Japanese driver Takuma Sato was fourth fastest while Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who will start from sixth on the grid, was fifth fastest for McLaren-Mercedes. Raikkonen finished half a second slower than Schumacher, while his teammate David Coulthard, who will start behind the Ferraris from third on the grid, was down in eighth place in the half-hour pre-race session.

Finn Mika Salo, preparing for his penultimate Grand Prix after announcing last month that he will retire from the sport at the end of the year, was sixth fastest in the Toyota.

Eddie Irvine moved back into the top ten after his dazzling form disappeared in qualifying to leave him 13th. He finished in seventh place for Jaguar after moving up to second behind Schumacher halfway through the session.

Giancarlo Fisichella's Jordan stopped at the end of the pitlane with an apparent electronics problem at a similar time and the mechanics spent several minutes frantically trying to solve the problem.

They got him back out following a change of steering wheel and the Italian driver still managed a time fast enough to get him into the top ten, just behind the ninth-placed Renault of Briton Jenson Button.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya finished in 11th place in the lead Williams-BMW after spinning between turns nine and ten right at the end of the practice session.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:13.183 206.212 km/h 14 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:13.321 + 0.138 16 3. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:13.471 + 0.288 12 4. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:13.718 + 0.535 14 5. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:13.765 + 0.582 10 6. Salo Toyota (M) 1:13.867 + 0.684 14 7. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:13.898 + 0.715 15 8. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:13.930 + 0.747 10 9. Button Renault (M) 1:14.074 + 0.891 8 10. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:14.154 + 0.971 17 11. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:14.223 + 1.040 16 12. Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:14.236 + 1.053 13 13. Trulli Renault (M) 1:14.254 + 1.071 13 14. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:14.377 + 1.194 14 15. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:14.603 + 1.420 16 16. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:14.650 + 1.467 8 17. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:14.844 + 1.661 15 18. McNish Toyota (M) 1:15.220 + 2.037 15 19. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:15.257 + 2.074 16 20. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:15.522 + 2.339 13 All Timing Unofficial