Montoya second in 3rd German GP Practice

On a day that would see the weather conditions milder, with a temperature of 22 Celsius, the teams would begin their final practice sessions prior to qualifying. Minardi's Zsolt Baumgartner would be the first driver out onto the track in the opening Saturday practice. For Jenson Button he would face having to drop ten grid places after having to have his engine replaced on Friday.

Several drivers including Button and Montoya would start flying laps only to abort them and return to the pits. Baumgartner would set a time of 1m:21.288. He would improve on this with a 1m:21.890. Minardi Team-mate Bruni would pass Baumgartner with a time of 1m:20.462. With fifteen minutes of the session run neither Ferrari's had taken to the track.

Both Jordan's were out and Giorgio Pantano would move into first position with a 1m:18.914. He was quickly beaten by team-mate Nick Heidfeld with a 1m:18.707. But for Pantano his session would go all wrong when he was to crash into the barriers at turn one. He lost control of his car and as he left the track would lose his front wing.

The session would be red flagged as the marshals removed his damaged car. When the session resumed WilliamsF1 driver Antonio Pizzonia would go fastest with a time of 1m:16.151. But his time would be quickly pass by Michael Schumacher when he was to set a time of 1m:16.007.

But again the session would be red flagged when Baumgartner was to make the same mistake as Pantano damaging his front wing at turn one. With debris on the track the session would be stopped. Again the session would go green with only eight minutes left in the session. BAR's Jenson Button would move to the top of the times with a 1m:15.839. The Sauber pair of Felipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichella would jump into fourth and fifth respectively.

Again there would be another accident when Takuma Sato was to crash into the barriers, when he lost control of his car. As the session wound down there would be a flurry of activity as drivers came out to set a time, including Barrichello, Raikkonen, and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Raikkonen would move into position one with a 1m:15.626. Just as quickly Rubens would pass the Finn with a time of 1m:15.598. Michael Schumacher would improve to now be in third but it would be Juan Pablo who would go fastest with a 1m:15.277. So as the session came to a close Michael Schumacher would cross the line with a 1m:15.594 to be in second. Rubens would improve with a time of 1m:15.354. But it would be Michael who would get in one final lap and cross the line with a stunning time of 1m:15.066 to go fastest.