Ralf Schumacher had been on the top spot until Trulli appeared and he dropped to 2nd by .055s. Mark Webber set a fantastic lap and took 3rd spot bettering his 6th place in the practice session. David Coulthard had an impressive run and out did his teammate by taking 4th after news of his contract extension with McLaren for 2004.

The 1st Bridgestone equipped car was that of Rubens Barrichello who managed 5th 1 spot behind where he practiced. Alonso in the Renault and Panis in the Toyota followed 6th and 7th respectably. Now the 2 title top title contenders Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari and Juan Montoya in the 2nd Williams find that their times place them mid field. Montoya takes 8th nearly a second off the quick time and M Schumacher 9th 1.072s down to Trulli.

Teammates Heidfeld and Frentzen in the Saubers qualified 10th and 11th to make it 3 Bridgestones in a row including the aforementioned M Schumacher. Kimi Raikkonen breaks the Bridgestone run by taking a disappointing 12th spot in his McLaren.

2 more Bridgestone cars consisting of the BAR teammates of Jenson Button in 13th and Jacques Villeneuve 14th bring up the back half of the field. Justin Wilson in his Jaguar only managed 15th overall even with the Michelin tires. The 2 Jordans of Fisichella and Firman will have to settle for 16th and 17th with fellow Bridgestone runners Verstappen and Kiesa for Minardi gridding 18th and 19th.

The only car to spin and set a time well off the pace was that of Cristano Da Matta in the Toyota. He will go out 1st tomorrow as a result of his slow time.

Once again the tires are the story and the Ferraris have a tough situation to deal with. If any team can find solutions it would be the Sculderia Ferrari.

Article by: Tony Moffett