Alonso sets blistering Silverstone pace

Unlike yesterday, the weather allowed for a productive day of work, and 15 drivers took to the track to continue with their preparations for the European Grand Prix.

Renault dominated today's session, with Alonso and teammate Giancarlo Fisichella finishing on top of the times after being the only two drivers capable of lapping the British circuit in less than 79 seconds.

Thanks to the softer tyres used this year, the seven quickest drivers in today's session beat the pole position time of the 2005 British Grand Prix.

The tyres, added to the less powerful V8 engines, has caused some drivers to claim they don't have to use their brakes at Silverstone until Club, the ninth corner of the track.

That situation has also caused problems, as the brakes don't get up to the proper working temperature when going into the complex section.

Despite that, Alonso and Fisichella enjoyed a strong day for the Renault team, completing over 200 laps between the two, with Alonso beating Jenson Button in the Honda by over half a second.

Button was joined by teammate Rubens Barrichello, sixth fastest today.

McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya continued working with the latest specification of the Mercedes engine the British team will use at the European Grand Prix. The Colombian was the only McLaren driver using the unit.

Teammate Kimi Raikkonen, joining the test today, had to use the old engine following a failure in the second unit yesterday when the car was driven by Pedro de la Rosa.

The BMW Sauber team had three drivers on track, with Nick Heidfeld joining Jacques Villeneuve and test driver Robert Kubica, who was the quickest of the three.

German Heidfeld, however, could only complete 36 laps before suffering a muscle twinge in his back which forced him to leave the test, with Kubica taking over.

David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi were in action for the Red Bull team, the Italian Toro Rosso driver taking to the wheel of the RB2 for the second time. Liuzzi's day, however, was cut short when he crashed heavily at the Becketts corner, causing heavy damage to the car.

Although Liuzzi escaped injury, he was unable to continue testing. He is expected to return to action tomorrow if the team manage to repair the damaged car.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  1:18.646   94
 2.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  1:18.964  116
 3.  Button        Honda                (M)  1:19.378  133
 4.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:19.404   72
 5.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:19.556   37
 6.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)  1:19.643   71
 7.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  1:19.691  108
 8.  Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)  1:20.186   71
 9.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  1:20.482  105
10.  Kubica        BMW-Sauber           (M)  1:20.565   51
11.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  1:20.671   73
12.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:20.957   24
13.  Liuzzi        Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:21.661   42
14.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  1:21.865   84
15.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)  1:21.858   36

All Timing Unofficial