Barcelona: Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, chasing his third win in a row, topped the timesheets in Saturday's final Spanish Grand Prix practice.
Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso, 13 points clear of Schumacher in the standings after five races and seeking to become the first Spaniard to win at home, was only eighth fastest.
Schumacher has won six times at the Circuit de Catalunya, with four victories in the last five years, and his time of one minute 15.658 seconds sent a clear warning to Alonso as the fastest lap of the weekend so far.
Ferrari's seven times champion has a fresh engine, while Alonso must use the one that powered him to second place behind Schumacher at the Nurburgring last Sunday.
His Renault team mate Giancarlo Fisichella does have a new engine, however, and he was second in the final session before qualifying with a lap of 1:15.707.
BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was third quickest ahead of the Red Bull duo of Austrian Christian Klien and Briton David Coulthard, who starts his 200th race on Sunday at the same circuit where he made his debut in 1994.
McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, last year's winner in Spain and runner-up in the 2005 championship behind Alonso, was 10th on the timesheets and a place behind team mate Juan Pablo Montoya.
The race is Alonso's first in Spain since he became Formula One's youngest champion aged 24 and is sold out with 130,000 spectators expected on Sunday.
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