Honda joins the testing in Barcelona

Driven by former F1 driver, Jos Verstappen, the car put in a best time of 1m24.25, just under two seconds slower than the fastest driver, Mika Hakkinen.

Meanwhile, Heinz-Harald Frentzen slightly damaged his Jordan when he made an excursion off the track.

The German managed to return though, and tested some more until rain brought an early end to the day.

Hakkinen, whose best lap was 1m22.65, was more than one second faster than any of the other drivers. His McLaren team-mate David Coulthard was closest with a best time of 1m23.81.

BAR's temporary driver Mika Salo was third, giving BAR more hope as they put him forward for his third race next weekend in Spain as replacement of the injured Ricardo Zonta.

Testing times from Catalunya