Panis Stamps his Superiority as Silverstone Testing Ends

The third and final day of testing at Silverstone saw Olivier Panis once again set the fastest time, outpacing World Champion Mika Hakkinen by over a second.

Panis, who was confirmed as Ricardo Zonta's replacement at BAR next year, ran impressive times throughout the day and at no point was bettered by any other driver. His fastest time of the day is also the best time of the three-day testing and he remains the only driver throughout the week to have run bellow the 1:24s.

Also present at Silverstone today was Arrows' Pedro de la Rosa, replacing Jos Verstappen in the Orange test car. The Spaniard completed 56 laps and set the fourth fastest time of the day. He ran different specifications of Bridgestone tyres, while trying suspension settings and general aerodynamic set-up work.

The final day at Silverstone was also a difficult one for the Jaguar team, and Eddie Irvine and Luciano Burti finished sixth and seventh quickest. Irvine, who had an engine change just before lunch, ran only a limited number of laps in the afternoon session, setting a best time of 1:27.820. Burti was able to complete 58 laps, recording a quickest time of 1:27.948.

Yesterday's Times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Panis McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.878 67 2. Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.918 52 3. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:26.317 27 4. de la Rosa Arrows-Supertec 1:26.484 56 5. Trulli Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:27.015 67 6. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 1:27.820 29 7. Burti Jaguar-Cosworth 1:27.948 58 All Timing Unofficial