Valencia day two: Hakkinen back on top
Mika Hakkinen has hit the ground running during preparations for this year's Formula 1 world championship by topping the times on the second day of testing at Valencia
The double world champion made a return to the cockpit of his McLaren-Mercedes yesterday (Monday) after not having driven a Formula 1 car since the final race of last year in Malaysia.
With development Bridgestone tyres on his interim McLaren MP4-15K, Hakkinen set a best time of 1m14.66s, followed by McLaren tester Alex Wurz in second spot, 0.65s behind.
New Formula 1 sensation Juan Pablo Montoya continued his run of fine form by taking third spot after completing a mammoth 86 laps. He had topped the timesheets in the morning session.
The Colombian spent all day carrying out in-depth tyre development for French manufacturer Michelin and brought out one of two red flags during the day by stopping out on the circuit with chassis problems.
The second stoppage was caused by the Benetton-Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella after the Italian ended up in the gravel during the afternoon session, but not before he had set the fifth fastest time. The interim B200B spectacularly bounced up into the air as it headed for the tyre wall, but came to rest without any serious damage.
Team mate Jenson Button had a more successful day than yesterday and completed 58 laps, but finished the day second to last ahead of Luciano Burti. The young Brit spent much of yesterday waiting for his Benetton's all-new Renault engine to be replaced. The Enstone-based team remains shrouded in secrecy as it develops its wide-angled V10.
As Eddie Irvine continued to carry out tyre work in last year's interim Jaguar R1B, Luciano Burti was charged with development work on the team's 2001 challenger, the R2. Despite finishing the day in a disappointing last place, the Brazilian completed a full race simulation with 30 laps during the morning and the same in the afternoon session.
Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1m14.66s 70
Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.21 59
Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1m15.76s 86
Eddie Irvine Jaguar 1m16.21s 68
Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Renault 1m16.32s 18
Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1m16.32s 13
Jos Verstappen Arrows-AMT 1m16.34s 46
Marc Gene* Williams-BMW 1m16.46s 49
Jenson Button Williams-BMW 1m16.73s 58
Luciano Burti Jaguar (2001 car) 1m17.19s 89
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