Practice is perfect as Pizzonia outpaces Schu

ANTONIO PIZZONIA will want to frame the timesheet from the first hour of free practice for the Canadian Grand Prix.

It showed the Brazilian Jaguar driver outpaced Monaco winner Juan Pablo Montoya and five-times world champion Michael Schumacher by over half a second, but the weather conditions had a lot to do with it.

Pizzonia was straight out of the blocks in the session, and worked straight down into the 1m16s bracket. His best effort, 1m16.621s, would stand as the best of the day so far, as the threatening rain clouds finally broke on the track about 10 minutes into the session.

Juan Pablo Montoya was next up for Williams, managing a 1m17.216s that was a tenth quicker than Michael Schumacher of Ferrari. Mark Webber made sure it was a great session for Jaguar with the fourth fastest time, while Olivier Panis gave Toyota a rare glimmer of hope with the fifth quickest lap.

Meanwhile, Minardi team principal Paul Stoddart has withdrawn his support for the proposed changes to the F1 rules.

Stoddart, whose Minardi team is struggling financially this year, has been angered by the failure of manufacturer-backed teams to provide the independent outfits with a promised ‘Fighting Fund’ to ensure their long-term future.

“I was perhaps too eager to please people who, it seems, have actually been working to try to make it difficult for Minardi to continue,” the Australian said.