Schumi tops last practice session

Barcelona is heating up – the sunshine, the expectation, and with them the laptimes. Michael Schumacher set a stunning 1:15.658 in this morning’s free practice session to knock Renault F1’s Giancarlo Fisichella off the top spot by 0.049 seconds. The German set his time in the final minute of the session to once again underline the proximity of competition this season.

In a busy and entertaining session, it was Fernando Alonso who caused the biggest gasps from the home crowd, as the world champion had a massive moment when he slid through the blindingly fast Campsa corner. The champ was able to retrieve the situation, putting two wheels on the grass and only losing a few tenths of a second, but it had been oh so close to a fairly big one on home soil for Fernando.

Nick Heidfeld surprised many with his pace for BMW, while the Red Bull pairing of Christian Klien and David Coulthard sat fourth and fifth. Sixth was the hOnda of Barrichello, with Felipe Massa seventh for Ferrari and Fernando eighth after his moment. The top ten was rounded out by the slightly improved McLarens of Montoya in ninth and Raikkonen in tenth.

The top ten was covered by a second, showing just how close qualifying is set to be this afternoon.