Ferrari Duo Quickest at Barcelona - Day Nine

World Champion Michael Schumacher and teammate Rubens Barrichello topped the timesheets on the ninth day of testing at the Barcelona circuit.

Both Ferrari drivers, who joined the test today at the Spanish track, worked on tyre development and electronics at the wheel of last year's car, with Schumacher being the busiest man after completing a total of 102 laps.

Today's session was dominated by the Bridgestone-shod runners, with Sauber's Nick Heidfeld finishing in third with the new Ferrari-powered C21.

"I had a trouble-free day and the car felt fantastic," said Heidfeld. "It is more stable and has more grip than the C20, and everything we did with it today had a positive outcome. I am feeling very optimistic for the season ahead."

Briton Anthony Davidson was fourth with the BAR 003, while Antonio Pizzonia was the quickest of the Michelin runners. The Brazilian, driving the Williams FW23, was the fastest of the four drivers present for the Grove-based squad today. German Ralf Schumacher and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya spent the day practicing pit-stops, with the Colombian not completing any flying laps.

Renault continued with the development of their new R202 car, which was unveiled last Sunday. After making its track debut yesterday, Briton Jenson Button was again at the wheel of the new machine, finishing ahead of Italian teammate Jarno Trulli with the 2001-spec car.

The Toyota team did not enjoy a promising day, with both Mika Salo and Allan McNish suffering mechanical problems in their TF102. The Finn driver was the quickest of the two, but could only complete 18 laps due to a gearbox problem. McNish, who completed 41 laps, was more than three tenths of a second slower than his teammate.

"It has not been very good today following a promising first day," said McNish. "We had some problems in the morning that took some time to solve. This meant that we did not get out until the early afternoon and after that we concentrated on suspension work."

German teenager Marcel Lasee followed in the footsteps of both Schumacher brothers by testing for the Jordan Formula One team. The 19-year-old German Formula Renault champion tested Jordan's 2001 specification EJ11 car, being more than half a second slower than Jordan's Japanese newcomer Takuma Sato.

Testing at Barcelona continues on Wednesday.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:18.444 102 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:18.607 66 3. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:18.798 89 4. Davidson BAR-Honda (B) 1:19.032 85 5. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 1:19.220 85 6. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:19.407 25 7. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:19.507 73 8. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:19.747 23 9. Button Renault (M) 1:20.073 47 10. Trulli Renault (M) 1:20.359 39 11. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:21.077 43 12. Salo Toyota (M) 1:21.358 18 13. McNish Toyota (M) 1:21.684 41 14. Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:22.578 43 15. Lassee Jordan-Honda (B) 1:23.137 71 16. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:46.189 16 All Timing Unofficial