Webber 5th in third practice session at Shanghai

With the BMW WilliamsF1 cars of Mark Webber and Antonio Pizzonia finishing
Friday practice at the Shanghai circuit in eight and sixteenth places the teams would have two final practice sessions prior to this afternoon's qualifying. With the start of the third practice session it would be the Minardi's of Albers and Doornbos who would take to the track first. They would be joined by both of the Jordan's.

These drivers would complete their installation laps and return to their pits but Kimi Raikkonen and WilliamsF1's Antonio Pizzonia would come out. Antonio lost a lot of track time with a suspension failure in the second Friday
practice. They would be joined by Montoya. While Raikkonen and Montoya would return to their pits Antonio would continue and would set the first time of the session, 1m:37.425.Antonio would return to his pit box for a splash of fuel, looked like some pit stop practice, and would return to the track. He would be joined by Team-mate Mark Webber. Antonio would improve his time with a 1m:35.675 while Mark's first lap was a 1m:37.543. Karthikeyan, Albers, and Jarno Trulli would also head out onto the track. Mark would improve his time with a 1m:36.512.

But Antonio would stop out on the circuit in sector two. Fisichella and Ralf Schumacher would come out. Trulli's first lap would be a 1m:38.774 while Karthikeyan and Albers would set times of 1m:39.078 and 1m:40.011 respectively. Trulli would improve his time with a 1m:37.389 but remained in third. Both Ferrari's had now left their pits. Karthikeyan would improve his time with a 1m:38.033. Albers would also improve but remained fifth fastest.

But it would be Fisichella who would go fastest as he would set a time of 1m:34.554 on his first lap. Ralf was now in fourth with a 1m:36.664. Michael Schumacher was in seventh with a 1m:38.404. Antonio's car would be pushed off the circuit after he spun and stalled his car. The Brazilian is doing little to make a positive impression with the WilliamsF1 team. Fisichella would lower his time with a 1m:34.472. Barrichello was now in eighth with a 1m:38.706.

So with almost thirty minutes of the session run the order was Fisichella from Pizzonia, Ralf Schumacher, Webber, Michael Schumacher, Trulli, Barrichello, Karthikeyan, and Albers. On his first lap Takuma Sato would move into third with a time of 1m:36.191. Coulthard was out on the track. He would be joined by both of the Sauber's. Mark was currently in fifth and was back out on the track.

With under ten minutes remaining Coulthard would move into sixth with a 1m:36.545. Button had now joined a growing number of drivers on the circuit. Coulthard would move into fourth with a 1m:36.174. Villeneuve was now in eleventh with a 1m:38.209. Mark would improve his time with a 1m:36.412 to now be in sixth. Raikkonen was also out on the track. Coulthard was now in third with a 1m:35.963. Michael and Rubens were in seventh and eighth.

Montoya would move into second with a time of 1m:34.849, while Button was now in fourth with a 1m:35.846. Alonso was to now come out for the first time. Pizzonia's FW27 would be returned to the pit lane. Would he be able to get back out? Mark was now in third with a time of 1m:34.895. But it would be Raikkonen who would move to the top of the times with a 1m:34.317, making it a McLaren 1-2. Coulthard would improve his time with a 1m:35.296 and was in sixth.

Villeneuve was now in ninth with a 1m:36.073. Antonio had dropped down to now be in seventh. The Toyota's of Trulli and Ralf Schumacher were in eleventh and twelfth. Alonso had moved into eighth with a time of 1m:35.900. Mark again would improve his time to now be in fourth, 1m:34.794. But Alonso would take this place from the Australian with a time of 1m:34.631. Kimi would improve his time with a 1m:34.253.

As the session came to a close it would be the two McLaren's in first and second followed by the two Renault's in third and fourth. The two championship rivals were certainly fighting it out. Mark was in fifth followed by Button. Coulthard and Sato made up the top eight. Antonio would finish the session in tenth even though the team was able to get him back out on the track.