By Nick Sparkes
September 24 2005

Panasonic Toyota Racing look to have a car worthy of the top 10 after Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli completed just a handful of laps to put themselves amongst the mid-field. This was then backed up by the Jordan team, whose Toyota engines also powered themselves up the timesheets.

On another warm, sunny day, little action greeted the fans throughout the third Practice session of the weekend. Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher got to work completing nine and twelve laps respectably. Jarno ending up just a fraction ahead of his team-mate, the two Panasonic Toyota Racing drivers in the top ten with Jarno eighth and Ralf ninth. Championship leader Fernando Alonso pushed his Renault to the top of the timesheets, closely followed by his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella in second. McLaren followed behind in team formation, whilst Jenson Button improved over the session to go fifth.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	F. Alonso	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	1:12.738	7
2	G. Fisichella	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	1:12.789	9
3	J. Montoya	Team McLaren Mercedes	1:13.050	10
4	K. Raikkonen	Team McLaren Mercedes	1:13.088	6
5	J. Button	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	1:13.186	9
6	R. Barrichello	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	1:13.529	8
7	A. Pizzonia	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	1:13.795	8
8	J. Trulli	Panasonic Toyota Racing	1:13.869	12
9	R. Schumacher	Panasonic Toyota Racing	1:13.908	9
10	M. Schumacher	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	1:13.952	8
11	T. Sato	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	1:14.042	9
12	C. Klien	Red Bull Racing	1:14.051	12
13	M. Webber	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	1:14.112	8
14	F. Massa	Sauber Petronas	1:14.255	8
15	D. Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	1:14.401	5
16	J. Villeneuve	Sauber Petronas	1:14.479	11
17	T. Monteiro	Jordan Grand Prix	1:14.851	11
18	N. Karthikeyan	Jordan Grand Prix	1:15.252	9
19	R. Doornbos	Minardi F1 Team	1:15.772	8
20	C. Albers	Minardi F1 Team	1:15.815	13

In the forth and final Practice session, there was action of plenty as the drivers got their final laps of practicing in before Qualifying. Both Jarno and Ralf completed another handful of laps, with Ralf the faster in eighth whilst Jarno was back in the pack with thirteenth. But the sessions biggest surprise was the amazing speed of both Jordan-Toyota’s, Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro were both running comfortably within the top ten until the remaining five minutes. Even still they were only a fraction behind Panasonic Toyota Racing driver Jarno Trulli, and just over a second behind the fastest man Kimi Raikkonen. Fernando Alonso finished second with Jenson Button and his improving BAR Honda in third. Ferrari were also improving with homeboy Rubens Barrichello sixth and 7-times World Champion Michael Schumacher in seventh.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1	K. Raikkonen	Team McLaren Mercedes	1:11.929	11
2	F. Alonso	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	1:12.110	13
3	J. Button	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	1:12.148	14
4	G. Fisichella	Mild Seven Renault F1 Team	1:12.158	13
5	J. Montoya	Team McLaren Mercedes	1:12.292	11
6	R. Barrichello	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	1:12.382	10
7	M. Schumacher	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	1:12.453	15
8	R. Schumacher	Panasonic Toyota Racing	1:12.509	18
9	A. Pizzonia	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	1:12.752	10
10	F. Massa	Sauber Petronas	1:12.799	11
11	C. Klien	Red Bull Racing	1:12.811	12
12	D. Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	1:13.199	14
13	J. Trulli	Panasonic Toyota Racing	1:13.222	14
14	N. Karthikeyan	Jordan Grand Prix	1:13.242	8
15	T. Monteiro	Jordan Grand Prix	1:13.305	18
16	J. Villeneuve	Sauber Petronas	1:13.508	16
17	T. Sato	Lucky Strike BAR Honda	1:13.817	5
18	C. Albers	Minardi F1 Team	1:14.012	16
19	M. Webber	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	1:14.114	9
20	R. Doornbos	Minardi F1 Team	1:14.595	17

Qualifying looks to be one of the most exciting all session, with the top eleventh covered by under a second and the top eighteen by just over two. Therefore fuel loads are going to have to be exact, or you could see yourself two or three rows behind than usual. For Panasonic Toyota Racing, a top ten start is the best we can hope for.

Times courtesy of toyota-f1.com