Barcelona test, day 3: Coulthard again

Briton Jenson Button managed a time good enough for third fastest, outpacing new Renault team mate Jarno Trulli by half a second. His former team mate Giancarlo Fisichella separated the pair in his Jordan.

It proved to be a bad day for the teams running new cars. Jacques Villeneuve had his first run in the British American Racing-Honda 004 and could only set the 12th fastest time. The Canadian has threatened to quit the team if he does not think the new car will be competitive.

Jaguar's Eddie Irvine and Toyota's Allan McNish were the only other drivers behind the wheels of new cars. They ended up at the bottom of the time sheets.

Sauber's new boy Felipe Massa impressed by going quickest overall for a brief period. But his Petronas engine blew on the lap after he had set his time and he dropped to eighth behind team mate Nick Heidfeld by the end of the day.

Kimi Raikkonen also hit problems in what was his second day of testing for McLaren. Technical dramas limited the number of laps he could manage.

Conditions today were dry, but it started to spit with rain towards the end of the afternoon, making the track damp and stopping drivers from improving their times.


David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m21.157s
Luca Badoer, Ferrari, 1m21.764s
Jenson Button, Renault, 1m21.780s
Giancarlo Fisichella, Jordan-Honda, 1m22.011s
Jarno Trulli, Renault, 1m22.222s
Ralf Schumacher, Williams-BMW, 1m22.313s
Nick Heidfeld, Sauber-Petronas, 1m22.349s
Felipe Massa, Sauber-Petronas, 1m22.466s
Luciano Burti, Ferrari, 1m22.703s
Olivier Panis, BAR-Honda, 1m22.800s
Takuma Sato, Jordan-Honda, 1m22.815s
Jacques Villeneuve, BAR-Honda*, 1m22.817s
Marc Gene, Williams-BMW, 1m22.949s
Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m22.968s
Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams-BMW, 1m23.376s
Pedro de la Rosa, Jaguar, 1m23.586s
Eddie Irvine, Jaguar*, 1m24.920s
Allan McNish, Toyota*, 1m25.296s
* driving 2002 cars