Length: 4.574 km
Number of Laps: 67 (306.458 Km)
Best Lap: K. Raikkonen - 1'13''780 (2004, Mclaren)
Record Pole: M. Schumacher - 1'13''306 (2004, Ferrari)
2005 Pole: K. Raikkonen - 1'14''320 (Mclaren)
2005 Podium: F. Alonso - JP. Montoya - J. Button

It wasn’t exactly a ringing endorsement from Red Bull’s Red Bulletin, but Klien remained unphased.

His comments on the issue were brief; instead the Austrian would level his main response on the track.

And on the track Klien was impressive, setting the two fastest times in Saturday morning’s final practice session for the German Grand Prix.

He proved his worth and talent with a performance that held off the likes of Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, and Fernando Alonso.

Button and Barrichello managed to record the second and third fastest times respectively for Honda.

Title challengers Schumacher (Ferrari) and Alonso (Renault) finished further down the order in ninth and 11th.

However, despite lowly positions, the pair’s intentions were clear – pole position.

As the chequered flag fell Schumacher was on the fastest lap of the weekend only to be slowed by the stricken Super Aguri of Sakon Yamamoto.

Alonso too had recorded some encouraging sector times during his brief runs.

Despite Klien’s pace, his time at the top will surely be short lived, as the fight for pole will be a whole lot tougher.

McLaren can’t be counted out of that battle. Kimi Raikkonen and Pedro de la Rosa finished eighth and tenth for the British squad, but, like Alonso, had sector times worthy of a much higher result.

Felipe Massa, in the second Ferrari, is also a man to be watched. Before Klien lifted the bar the Brazilian had been dominating the session with fastest time after fastest time.

In other news from the morning run, Jarno Trulli’s weekend appeared to take a significant setback when he pulled to the side of the road early in the session.

The smoke billowing from the rear of the Italian’s Toyota suggested terminal engine troubles.

While the team is yet to comment it would appear that Trulli will require a change and as such will be demoted ten positions on tomorrow’s starting grid.