Alonso Sets Pace at Barcelona

Spanish driver Fernando Alonso set a blistering pace on the opening day of this week's testing at the Barcelona circuit, where seven Formula One teams got back to work.

Alonso, driving the new R25 car, posted the quickest time of the year so far with a best lap of 1:14.991 in the newly-laid tarmac of the Spanish track. Alonso, the busiest man on track with 110 laps, finished nearly a second in front of his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella in the second car from the French outfit.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was over two tenths behind Alonso in the quickest of the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20 cars.

Montoya's teammate Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest, but the Finn's day was marked by a heavy accident at turn 11, where he lost control of his car before spinning and hitting the tyre barriers.

Raikkonen, whose car was heavily damaged, looked shaken up as he was taken back to the pits, and stopped testing for the rest of the day.

The Toyota team today debuted their heavily revised TF105 car, but it was Brazilian Ricardo Zonta in the old TF104B who finished as the fastest Toyota driver, outpacing Jarno Trulli by over a second.

Trulli, who caused one of the red flags of the day when he spun off track, completed 92 laps at the wheel of the revised car, which incorporated a radical-looking aerodynamic package.

Scot David Coulthard set a promising fifth quickest time in the Red Bull RB1, with Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi seventh on the timesheets in the second car from the Austrian squad.

Williams driver Antonio Pizzonia tested alongside Australian Mark Webber as the BMW-powered squad continued working with the FW27. The Brazilian test driver, who lost out to Nick Heidfeld in their battle for the second racing seat, was slightly quicker than Webber.

World Champion Michael Schumacher continued to set unimpressive times in the Ferrari F2004M, finishing 11th on the timesheets in the quickest of the three Bridgestone-shod cars on track.

The Jordans of Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro finished at the bottom of the times, way off the pace. It was the first time Jordan have tested their new Toyota-powered EJ15 with other cars on track.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Alonso Renault (M) 1:14.991 110 2. Montoya McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:15.227 82 3. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:15.374 83 4. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:15.404 71 5. Coulthard Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:15.648 63 6. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:15.713 92 7. Liuzzi Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:16.143 70 8. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:16.509 92 9. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 1:16.551 97 10. Webber Williams-BMW (M) 1:16.639 101 11. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:16.726 54 12. Karthikeyan Jordan-Toyota (B) 1:20.029 81 13. Monteiro Jordan-Toyota (B) 1:22.076 86 All Timing Unofficial

View today's Full Laptimes from the Barcelona track

Visit Atlas F1's Testing Center for further information