Williams admits it has work to do

Star drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya were only sixth and ninth respectively after the two one-hour sessions on Thursday, and both suffered overshoots at the Mirabeau hairpin during the sessions.

"Looking at where we have finished we still have quite a bit of work to do," said Williams's chief operations engineer Sam Michael. "We collected useful data on the tyres and now we will have a look and see what we can do."

Williams was outpaced on Thursday by fellow Michelin runners Renault, Toyota and McLaren, while Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella was also ahead on his Bridgestone tyres.

"I am quite happy with the balance of the car and we have already made our tyre choice," said Schumacher. "But, even though, my lap time is not just good enough yet."

Montoya added: "I am pretty happy. I am still struggling a bit with the balance of the car. I think there is still some more to come and we will make further improvements by Saturday. We usually do."