Length: 4.627 km
Number of Laps: 66 (305.256 Km)
Best Lap: G. Fisichella - 1'15''641 (2005, Renault)
Record Pole: M. Schumacher - 1'15''022 (2004, Ferrari)
2005 Pole: K. Raikkonen - 1'16''602 (Mclaren)
2005 Podium: K. Raikkonen - F. Alonso - J. Trulli

In the early stages the Spanish faithful were treated to a one man display as Franck Montagny put lap after lap on the Super Aguri, and had done at least half a dozen tours before the rest opted to join in the fun. As the track temperature climbed and more rubber was laid by the tail end boys, the heavy hitters joined the fray, with Ferrari, Honda, McLaren and Renault all putting in some laps. As usual, though, it was left until the final few minutes before anyone began to run at a serious pace.

First into the one-minute-fifteen region, where we are expecting the pole time to be, was Giancarlo Fisichella in the Renault, his 1:15.707 looking good for top time with a minute to go. He had reckoned, however, without Michael Schumacher who pipped Fisichella to top spot in the dying seconds with 1:15.707 to become the only other runner to dip below 1:16.

Behind these two a somewhat odd list appears, with Nick Heidfeld recovering his form after a poor couple of showings at BMW-Sauber to go third on 1:16.057, followed by the two Red Bull racing entries, who have looked quick all weekend, with Christian Klien (1:16.277) just ahead of David Coulthard (whom Klien charmingly refers to as ‘uncle David, we learn today) on 1:1:16.352.

Rubens Barrichello emerged as the fastest of the two Honda runners in sixth place, mere thousandths behind Coulthard, and finished over half a second quicker than team mate Jenson Button who registered 11th fastest.

Seventh and eighth places, almost two tenths apart, are Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari F248 and Fernando Alonso in the second Renault, while ninth and tenth positions go to the lacklustre Mclaren pair of Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen, both a second slower than Schumacher’s fastest time.

Scott Speed showed in a fine 12th places, the Toro Rosso looking good around Barcelona, his time quarter of a second quicker than team mate Tonio Liuzzi in 14th,
While Toyota appear to be struggling once again, with Ralf Schumacher only managing 13th position and Jarno Trulli over a second down in 18th.

The Williams duo of Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber had a quiet morning, setting 15th and 16th fastest times respectively, two seconds off the front running pace, while Jacques Villeneuve, very much the man at BMW-Sauber in recent days, has been thoroughly eclipsed today by team mate Heidfeld here, a full two seconds down on the German’s pace in 17th position.

The final four, as usual, are the two Midlands and the two improving Super Aguris, with Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers 19th and 21st for MF1 racing, Takuma Sato and Franck Montagny 20th and 22nd for the Japanese underdogs.

Going into this afternoons qualifying session, it looks as though the usual battle for pole between Ferrari and Renault can be expected, with Fisichella on form and hoping to break his run of bad luck, while it is worth noting that neither McLaren completed ten laps this morning, considerably less than any other runner. Fast, too are the Red Bull RB2’s, and Heidfeld has shown the BMW-Sauber is also carrying some pace.