Valencia, day 4: Heidfeld leads the way
Nick Heidfeld ended an incident-packed test at Valencia on top of the timesheets. The German once again underlined the competitiveness of Sauber's C21 by comfortably out-pacing the chasing pack, setting a best lap over a second quicker than Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams
It was a day of mixed fortunes for the Swiss team though, as Felipe Massa's work was cut short by a big crash on the entry to Turn One.
"I had an unexpected problem with the front wing attachment to the nose," said the Brazilian. "It caused a big accident. The car stood up to the impact and I am completely unharmed."
He set the day's third quickest time, 0.5s down on Montoya. Ralf Schumacher was fourth quickest, although he stopped out on track with just minutes of the session remaining. It was a day littered with red flags, the swirling winds playing havoc with the sensitive aerodynamics.
Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber all had offs, although it was the Jordan that sustained the most damage.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen had a positive first day for Arrows, ending the test in eighth place, over half a second ahead of Pedro de la Rosa in the Jaguar, which shares the same Cosworth CR3 engine.
Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas B 1m12.404s 71
Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m13.736s 73
Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas B 1m14.219s 23
Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m14.624s 62
Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW* M 1m14.754s 43
Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda B 1m14.943s 56
Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda B 1m15.099s 22
Heinz-Harald Frentzen Arrrows-Cosworth B 1m15.133s 27
Olivier Panis BAR-Honda B 1m15.135s 32
Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda* B 1m15.311s 37
Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda B 1m15.373s 59
Fernando Alonso Renault* M 1m15.380s 48
Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m15.699s 41
Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar M 1m15.736s 34
Mark Webber Minardi-Asiatech M 1m16.655s 26
Alex Yoong Minardi-Asiatech* M 1m18.650s 76
M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone
* denotes 2001 car
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