Post by pasha on Jun 10, 2006 6:06:20 GMT -5
Michael Schumacher waited until late in the final free practice session for the British Grand Prix to unleash the potential of the Ferrari/Bridgestone package on Silverstone.
The German ace was more than 0.4s faster than anybody else as he obliterated the opposition in the final moments of the hour-long session - his time of 1m20.919s the quickest of the weekend by far.
Ferrari has been confident of its pace all weekend, and Schumacher's team-mate Felipe Massa underlined this message with the third fastest time in the second car.
BMW's Nick Heidfeld, another German (aren't they having a good weekend!) was an impressive second fastest as he proved that test driver Robert Kubica's Friday best was no fluke.
The German/Swiss oufit looks as though it may have hit upon a sweet spot at the Northamptonshire venue as former Silverstone winner Jacques Villeneuve was eighth quickest.
Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for McLaren, although the Finn who spun at Club on his last lap, was more than 0.8s away from Schumacher's pace.
Renault star Giancarlo Fisichella, who was the quickest race driver on Friday, set the pace again for much of this morning's session before tumbling to fifth late on.
Still he remained faster than his world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso, who was sixth.
Behind Villeneuve and completing the top ten were the two Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed.
The V10-powered cars look hooked up this weekend. Could it be that the Cosworth engine is working better through the fast sweeps than some of the V8s?
If so the Gerhard Berger co-owned team could cause havoc through the knock-out sections of qualifying.
Jenson Button was 11th quickest ahead of fellow Briton David Coulthard, while Tiago Monteiro was a remarkable 13th quickest.
The Portuguese Midland driver was faster than Christian Klien, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jarno Trulli, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg and Ralf Schumacher!
Both Super Aguris crashed within minutes of each other half way through the session.
Takuma Sato went off at Becketts in a heavy impact that badly damaged the right-hand side of his car while Franck Montagny spun into the gravel at Priory.
Saturday free practice session 3 results
1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m20.919s
2. HEIDFELD BMW 1m21.361s
3. MASSA Ferrari 1m21.633s
4. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m21.771s
5. FISICHELLA Renault 1m21.859s
6. ALONSO Renault 1m21.870s
7. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m22.023s
8. VILLENEUVE BMW 1m22.229s
9. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m22.456s
10. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m22.532s
11. BUTTON Honda 1m22.596s
12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m22.681s
13. MONTEIRO Midland 1m22.812s
14. KLIEN Red Bull 1m22.921s
15. MONTOYA McLaren 1m23.412s
16. TRULLI Toyota 1m23.459s
17. WEBBER Williams 1m23.964s
18. ROSBERG Williams 1m24.010s
19. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m24.386s
20. MONTAGNY Super Aguri 1m27.229s
21. SATO Super Aguri 1m27.525s
22. ALBERS Midland no time
The German ace was more than 0.4s faster than anybody else as he obliterated the opposition in the final moments of the hour-long session - his time of 1m20.919s the quickest of the weekend by far.
Ferrari has been confident of its pace all weekend, and Schumacher's team-mate Felipe Massa underlined this message with the third fastest time in the second car.
BMW's Nick Heidfeld, another German (aren't they having a good weekend!) was an impressive second fastest as he proved that test driver Robert Kubica's Friday best was no fluke.
The German/Swiss oufit looks as though it may have hit upon a sweet spot at the Northamptonshire venue as former Silverstone winner Jacques Villeneuve was eighth quickest.
Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for McLaren, although the Finn who spun at Club on his last lap, was more than 0.8s away from Schumacher's pace.
Renault star Giancarlo Fisichella, who was the quickest race driver on Friday, set the pace again for much of this morning's session before tumbling to fifth late on.
Still he remained faster than his world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso, who was sixth.
Behind Villeneuve and completing the top ten were the two Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott Speed.
The V10-powered cars look hooked up this weekend. Could it be that the Cosworth engine is working better through the fast sweeps than some of the V8s?
If so the Gerhard Berger co-owned team could cause havoc through the knock-out sections of qualifying.
Jenson Button was 11th quickest ahead of fellow Briton David Coulthard, while Tiago Monteiro was a remarkable 13th quickest.
The Portuguese Midland driver was faster than Christian Klien, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jarno Trulli, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg and Ralf Schumacher!
Both Super Aguris crashed within minutes of each other half way through the session.
Takuma Sato went off at Becketts in a heavy impact that badly damaged the right-hand side of his car while Franck Montagny spun into the gravel at Priory.
Saturday free practice session 3 results
1. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m20.919s
2. HEIDFELD BMW 1m21.361s
3. MASSA Ferrari 1m21.633s
4. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m21.771s
5. FISICHELLA Renault 1m21.859s
6. ALONSO Renault 1m21.870s
7. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m22.023s
8. VILLENEUVE BMW 1m22.229s
9. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1m22.456s
10. SPEED Toro Rosso 1m22.532s
11. BUTTON Honda 1m22.596s
12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m22.681s
13. MONTEIRO Midland 1m22.812s
14. KLIEN Red Bull 1m22.921s
15. MONTOYA McLaren 1m23.412s
16. TRULLI Toyota 1m23.459s
17. WEBBER Williams 1m23.964s
18. ROSBERG Williams 1m24.010s
19. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m24.386s
20. MONTAGNY Super Aguri 1m27.229s
21. SATO Super Aguri 1m27.525s
22. ALBERS Midland no time