Length: 5.451 km
Number of Laps: 56 (305.066 Km)
Best Lap: M. Schumacher - 1'32''238 (2004, Ferrari)
Record Pole: R. Barrichello - 1'34''012 (2004, Ferrari)
2005 Pole: F. Alonso - 1'34''080 (Renault)
2005 Podium: F. Alonso - K. Raikkonen - R. Schumacher

The Ferrari pair of Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher had come out early, and quickly established themselves at the head of the queue in that order, with the Renault of Fernando Alonso quickly edging up in third spot, just a few thousandths of a second separating the trio.

The initial half hour went slowly, with drivers pounding around to check out the conditions. Notable absentees were the McLaren pair, both Kimi Raikkonen and Pedro de la Rosa remaining garage-bound until well into the second half.

The last quarter hour was where the fun began as first Sebastian Vettel, the young German in the BMW-Sauber who has become accustomed to top spot in his short Formula One career so far, topped the table, only to be usurped by Alexander Wurz, this morning’s fastest runner again looking good for Williams.

These two traded fastest times, with the Austrian Wurz eventually taking the fastest time with a 1:35.539 as the flag waved, only four one hundredths ahead of Vettel.

Anthony Davidson had made a late lunge in the Honda to top these two but, despite a blistering opening sector, had to settle for third with 1:35.714.

Behind the Englishman were the two Ferrari’s, Massa’s 1:36.599 just shading Schumacher’s time, and behind them a few performances that were truly notable.

In seventh place at the end of the hour, with a time of 1:37.278, was Franck Montagny. Yes, you read it right, that’s the Frenchman in the Super Aguri. Of course he would be on low fuel, of course he would be on high revs, but to put a Super Aguri behind only the three fastest Friday cars and the World Championship contenders is a praiseworthy effort, and a very heartening one for this much improved little team.

Just behind Montagny, by four-tenths, was Formula One debutante (one of two today) Michael Ammermuller, the young German stepping into Robert Doornbos shoes at Red Bull Racing, and excelling in the process. Germany, it seems, has a number of rising stars waiting in the wings right now.

Another surprise in ninth, with a very late effort, is the presence of Tiago Monteiro in the Spyker-MF1. Resplendent in the new orange and silver livery, Monteiro jus failed to pip Ammermuller by a mere fraction of a second. Too often, though, we see genuine pace from the Toyota-engined M16, only for it to disappear in qualifying. Here’s hoping the new incarnation brings better days for the team.

Rounding out what must be the most unusual top ten of the year so far was Giancarlo Fisichella, the second Renault a disconcerting two seconds away from the fastest time.

The Honda race pair of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello kept running to a minimum for 11th and 16th positions, but not quite as radically as the McLarens who, between them, only put in 13 laps on the way to 12th, for de la Rosa, and 21st for soon to be Ferrari boy Kimi Raikkonen.

Mark Webber, 13th, who put in a meagre six laps in the Williams, can at least be heartened by the pace of the car in Wurz’s hands, and by the fact that he outpaced team mate Nico Rosberg (23rd) by a second and a half, and the BMW-Sauber pair of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, another pair to run very few laps, must be having similar thoughts after finishing 14th and 22nd.

In 15th was the days other debutante, Alexander Premat, the Frenchman having his first run for Spyker-MF1 and performing very creditably indeed in difficult conditions, with the lacklustre (as usual) Toyota pairing of Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli both behind him in 17th and 18th positions.

Scott Speed was the fastest of the Toro Rosso trio in 19th, with Neel Jani just behind him in 20th and Tonio Liuzzi, a man often forgotten these days, back in 24th, and the Red Bull ‘first team’ cars of David Coulthard and Robert Doornbos, replacing Christian Klein, in a disastrous 26th and 27th.

Christijan Albers came home 28th, just ahead of Takuma Sato who saw his team mate Sakon Yamamoto (not to mention Montagny) finish ahead of him in 25h position. Surely, next season, an all-Japanese line up will not be a necessity in this team.

So, the scene set for an interesting, and vital, Chinese Grand Prix weekend, with the prospect of a show down in the wet between the two championship protagonists.