MOTOR SPORT: Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso fired off a warning to his Formula One rivals yesterday, lapping comfortably quicker than them in French Grand Prix free practice.
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica topped the timesheets in both sessions but the young Polish test driver will not race on Sunday.
Alonso, winner of six of the 10 races to date and 19 points clear of Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in the standings, was second quickest in the afternoon after sitting out the morning.
His time of 77.498 seconds was the fastest by a race driver on a day dominated by the unsung testers.
"It was a normal Friday for me here today, working on the tyre programme and making a few small set-up changes," said the champion, who was using a new-specification engine.
Of the 22 drivers who will be on the starting grid at Magny-Cours, only four made the top 10 in the second session - Renault's Italian Giancarlo Fisichella the fifth-quickest with a lap of 1:17.916, ahead of sixth-placed Schumacher's 1:17.938. Toyota's Ralf Schumacher was ninth.
The main talking points of a low-key opening session, however, were the vertical aerodynamic fins on the nose of Kubica's car.
"The combination of these and the new side wings on the engine cover have improved the air stream to the rear of the car and therefore increased downforce," said technical director Willy Rampf.
"As well as this, they improve stability in the corners and under braking."
Formula One's governing body confirmed rule changes yesterday that will shorten qualifying by five minutes from this weekend's Grand Prix.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that a proposal to abolish the use of third drivers in Friday practice from 2007 had also been carried by a fax vote of its World Motor Sport Council.
With the change, the third and final part of the knockout qualifying format involving the 10 fastest cars will be reduced from 20 minutes to 15.
The abolition of the third drivers is part of wider plans to condense the three-day race weekend into two days, with Friday becoming an open test session.
That would have the double merit of giving fans, who currently see few of the top drivers on track in Friday free practice, more for their money while reducing costs for teams by slashing the amount of testing done elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya could race again in Formula One this season and will not be allowed to compete in NASCAR until his McLaren contract ends, team boss Ron Dennis said yesterday.
"Juan Pablo is fully contracted through to the end of the year," he told a French Grand Prix news conference. "And if we so choose, he will test and race again. That is our option, nobody else's."
Dennis added that the chance of Montoya coming back was "more than possible".
Montoya announced last Sunday that he was moving to the US stock car series next year and has made clear in subsequent interviews he considers his Formula One career to be finished.
McLaren have drafted in the Spanish test driver Pedro de la Rosa to replace Montoya for tomorrow's race, the 11th of the 18-round championship.
While Dennis said the driver would not be allowed to race or test in NASCAR this year, he hinted at a likely financial settlement.
"He's a contracted McLaren driver and will stay that way until the end of his contract, unless there is some other commercial arrangement between ourselves and the NASCAR team or Juan himself," he said.
