Barrichello tops standings

Brazil’s Rubens Barrichello swept to the top of the time-sheets in final practice for the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg today.

Barrichello displaced Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher, who slipped to third quickest on the A1-Ring having made an excursion off the track for the second session in a row.

Colombia’s Juan Pablo Montoya charged up the standings to post the second-best time in his Williams-BMW, although the top three drivers were separated by just 0.090 seconds.

But Schumacher will still have the advantage of running last in qualifying this afternoon after heading the standings on Friday, and is favourite to grab pole position for tomorrow’s race.

Barrichello, just 0.060secs quicker than Montoya, is likely to be Schumacher’s biggest threat on a track where he dominated last year only to controversially have to hand victory to his team-mate in the closing stages.

Schumacher’s brother, Ralf, was fourth fastest in the other Williams in what is a vital weekend for the team who have been criticised for not using the BMW engine to its full potential.

Renault’s Jarno Trulli finished fifth in the final session with Jacques Villeneuve sixth for BAR-Honda and aiming for a decent position on the grid in qualifying.

Kimi Raikkonen, whose lead in the championship has been slashed to just four points with Schumacher winning the last two races, was seventh fastest while McLaren team-mate David Coulthard was 15th having made an unplanned trip across the gravel.

Jenson Button was 14th fastest having done less laps in his BAR than most of his rivals and he will be looking to repeat his fifth place from yesterday’s qualifying session.

Jordan’s Ralph Firman was 18th fastest, two places ahead of Minardi’s Justin Wilson who wound up bottom and facing another qualifying struggle.