Monza test, day four: Ralf tops times for WIlliams

The pace of the Williams has been evident throughout the test and was highlighted by Schumacher Jr's fastest time and team mate Jenson Button's seventh fastest time, set during a race distance simulation.

Schumacher Sr's time was also set during a race distance, but team mate Rubens Barrichello gave a better indication of the Ferrari pace over a single lap by posting the second fastest time 0.48s ahead of Jarno Trulli's Jordan-Mugen Honda.

The Arrows team continued its week at the sharp end with Pedro de La Rosa going fourth quickest despite an off late in the day at the second chicane, damaging the rear suspension. The Spaniard spent much of the day carrying out tyre testing work.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen joined Jordan team mate Trulli in the top six, closely followed by the sole McLaren-Mercedes of test driver Olivier Panis just 0.008s behind.

Unlike the torrential rain of Thursday afternoon, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza was bathed in bright sunshine throughout the day while temperatures reached 29 degrees Centigrade.


R Schumacher Williams-BMW 1m25.495s 61
R Barrichello Ferrari 1m25.581s 87
J Trulli Jordan-Mugen Honda 1m26.067s 80
P de la Rosa Arrows-Supertec 1m26.149s 77
H-H Frentzen Jordan-Mugen Honda 1m26.327s 72
O Panis McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.335s 90
J Button Williams-BMW 1m26.720s 68
M Schumacher Ferrari 1m26.801s 78
P Diniz Sauber-Petronas 1m27.077s 37
E Irvine Jaguar 1m27.147s 84
A Wurz Benetton-Supertec 1m27.352s 66
M Salo Sauber-Petronas 1m27.560s 31
J Alesi Prost-Peugeot 1m28.052s 42