Arrows drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi made their belated appearance at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone today but could not stop Michael Schumacher powering back to the top of the time-sheets.
Frentzen and Bernoldi finished fourth and eighth fastest respectively in this morning's penultimate practice session, having been cleared to compete after boss Tom Walkinshaw stumped up £3.2million of his own money to pay engine suppliers Cosworth.
The duo has been forced to miss yesterday's opening rain-lashed session while Walkinshaw frantically worked to rescue his team's Formula One future.
But it was world championship pacesetter Michael Schumacher who dominated the session as he swept Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello off the top spot he had held overnight.
The German finished the penultimate session before qualifying this afternoon 0.4 secs ahead of the Brazilian as the Ferrari duo maintained their awesome superiority this weekend.
McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was third-fastest as the rain of yesterday was replaced by a chilling wind this morning but he was still a massive 1.6 secs off the pace set by the four-time drivers' champion Schumacher.
Team-mate David Coulthard was sixth-fastest just behind the British American Racing car of Jacques Villeneuve. Both are two-time Silverstone winners but need a miracle to triumph this weekend.
Jenson Button was 10th-fastest for Renault while Allan McNish was 19th for Toyota as both drivers continued to race with growing speculation over their grand prix futures.
Eddie Irvine was frustrated in his attempt to get much-needed time in the cockpit of the heavily-revised Jaguar R3 as he was unable to post one meaningful lap this morning because of technical problems.
But team-mate Pedro de la Rosa was 11th, suggesting brighter days ahead although his Jaguar nearly swallowed a rabbit which raced across the tarmac in front of his during the session.
PA