Silverstone test, final day: Fisichella fastest

But it was an unflustered McLaren that left the Northamptonshire circuit most confident of having found a set-up that encompasses the compromises required to effectively tackle the fast straights and slow corners at Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix next weekend.

Most teams took this line with their set-up, using the small rear wings characteristic of the traditional Hockenheim low downforce arrangement. However, Williams broke with this by putting a higher downforce set-up on Jenson Button's car, which could well have helped the Englishman into his second spot.

McLaren's Olivier Panis won the unofficial 'test driver Grand Prix'. The Frenchman may be missing the sting of competition, but wound up top of the reserve driver list with his lap of 1.25.66. No fewer than five test drivers for various teams were present, including Sauber's Enrique Bernoldi, who joined the test today. Benetton's Antonio Pizzonia also ran for the first time in the test, replacing Alexander Wurz, while Jaguar's Luciano Burti ended a busy week with three days of testing adding to the stress of his debut Grand Prix appearance last weekend.

Both BARs went off the circuit at times during the day, but neither Patrick Lemarie's car nor that of Ricardo Zonta suffered damage.

Times
G Fisichella Benetton 1m24.93 - 34 laps
J Button Williams 1m25.00 - 23 laps
O Panis McLaren 1m25.66 - 38 laps
E Bernoldi Sauber 1m26.41 - 53 laps
L Burti Jaguar 1m26.92 - 26 laps
D Coulthard McLaren 1m26.94 - 37 laps
A Pizzonia Benetton 1m27.06 - 21 laps
P Lemarie BAR 1m27.69 - 33 laps
J Trulli Jordan 1m28.16 - 35 laps
R Zonta BAR 1m28.44 - 25 laps