Rubens Barrichello was, just like yesterday, on the pace again with clocking the fastest time of the day. Stewart showed real strength during the last Grand Prix at Melbourne, but also some problems with two cars catching fire at the start. The team now says it has the problems under control.

A spokesman stated today: "We did simulated race-starts to see if there were any problems and there weren't. We're confident that we've overcome the problem."

Driver       Team     Time 
Barrichello  Stewart  1:20.54
Herbert      Stewart  1:22.01
Frentzen     Jordan   1:23.29
Hill         Jordan   1:23.30
Alesi        Sauber   1:23.35
Trulli       Prost    1:23.38
Panis        Prost    1:23.72
Diniz        Sauber   1:24.13
Gene         Minardi  1:24.78