Rising temperatures at the Northamptonshire track saw times tumbling, but Kimi Raikkonen suffered another bout of what is becoming his customary bad luck when his McLaren stopped out on the circuit with what was believed to be a hydraulic failure.

The second McLaren of Juan Pablo Montoya took second place with 1:20.128, highlighting the expected competetive state of the team at this venue.

Behind the Colombian came the two Toyotas of one-lap specialist Jarno Trulli (1:20.449) and Ralf Schumacher (1:20.524), followed by British hope Jenson Button who took the BAR Honda around the expansive circuit in 1:20.763.

Giancarlo Fisichella, in the second Renault, finished in sixth place just ahead of Michael Schumacher in the faster of the two Ferrari's.

Williams duo Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld both posted times in the dying seconds to finish eighth and ninth, the Australian just five one-hundredths of a second quicker than the German.

Christian Klien finished an impressive tenth, comfortably quicker than Red Bull team leader David Coulthard who experienced mechanical problems.