Schumacher back in front

Michael Schumacher swept back to the top of the time-sheets in the penultimate practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal today.

The German, third quickest yesterday, had been trailing in the middle of the pack for much of the 45-minute session on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

But the Ferrari driver conjured up a flying lap right at the end of practice to take over at the top from the Williams-BMW of Juan Pablo Montoya, whose team-mate Ralf Schumacher was third fastest.

Schumacher, who leads the Williams duo by 33 points in the championship, finished 0.1seconds quicker than Montoya with his younger brother just fractions further adrift.

Brazil’s Rubens Barrichello was fourth fastest with Kimi Raikkonen half-a-second back in fifth spot in his McLaren-Mercedes and Germany’s Heinz-Harald Frentzen sixth in the Orange Arrows.

Britain’s David Coulthard, who had set the pace on the opening day, slipped to ninth fastest this morning in his McLaren behind the BAR of Olivier Panis and Sauber’s Felipe Massa.

Coulthard’s fellow Scot Allan McNish, who saw his time on the track restricted by an oil leak yesterday, moved up to 14th-fastest for Toyota in today’s opening session.

Jenson Button - who also spent less time on the circuit yesterday than he would have liked because of an engine problem - was 17th in the Renault, while Jaguar Racing’s Eddie Irvine finished in 20th spot.