In a session which saw many drivers improve their place late on in the session, McLaren's Kimi Räikkönen topped the time sheets, after a splendid late lap of 1:14.232, the fastest time of the weekend so far. Only seconds earlier Alonso had put his Renault in P1, displacing Juan Pablo Montoya who had been fastest for most of the session, with a time of 1:14.670, less than a tenths faster than the Columbian. Giancarlo Fisichella also did badly from the late-lapping McLaren and Renault, with the Italian finishing in 4th on 1:14.746. Takuma Sato gave the BAR team a great boost for qualifying after he lapped in 1:14.883, a brilliant effort from the young Japanese man. His team mate, Jenson Button, was only four tenths adrift in 7th on 1:15.282.

Splitting the two BARs was the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher. He managed to lap two thousandths quicker than Button for 6th. Michael Schumacher finished 8th ahead of both Williams in 9th and 10th, recovering somewhat from the disappointing showing yesterday. Schumacher lapped in 1:15.316, followed by Heidfeld's 1:15.723 and Webber's 1:15.894. Rubens Barrichello couldn't quite match the Champion's pace, with the Brazilian lapping in 1:15.995. He was closely followed by Felipe Massa's Ferrari-powered Sauber on 1:16.020. Only four hundredths further back was Toyota's Jarno Trulli, who has seemed to be off the pace all weekend, but his one-lap wonders will most probably help him in his quest for a good grid slot.

Behind the Italian were three drivers separated by only one hundredth of a second. David Coulthard was the fastest of the trio on 1:16.341, followed by Jacques Villeneuve and Christian Klien, both on 1:16.355. The Jordan-Toyotas and Minardi-Cosworths finished at the bottom of the timesheets after closing the gap massively to the front-runners.

As we focus our attention to qualifying now, the clear favourites will be the Renaults and the McLarens. It will be tough for Räikkönen though, as he will be out towards the middle of the session due to his retirement in Europe. Alonso on the other hand will get the best conditions on track, with the Spaniard going out last. Heidfeld should also get a good chance being the second-last driver to take to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.