Fernando Alonso led the French team’s charge with a benchmark effort of 1:12.738 mid way through the 45-minute run.

His teammate Giancarlo Fisichella rounded out the impressive result with a 1:12.789 for second soon after.

McLaren – who have become so accustomed to domination – couldn’t chase down their championship rivals despite several efforts from Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen.

The pair, who admittedly showed little concern for outright pace, finished three tenths down in positions three and four respectively.

BAR’s Jenson Button was fifth, ahead of his future teammate Rubens Barrichello who currently resides at Ferrari.

Antonio Pizzonia (Williams) and Jarno Trulli (Toyota) added to the mix of teams at the top with the seventh and eighth fastest times.

However despite this aforementioned mix, the gap between the potential winners and midfield battlers was already apparent with well in excess of a second covering the top eight.