Barcelona Day 2: Button top
Pre-British GP testing at Barcelona ended with a British driver at the head of the times for the second day running, with Jenson Button setting the pace for Renault
The Englishman set his best time of 1m17.71s during a one-lap 'qualifying' effort, but spent most of the test evaluating tyres. Once again conditions were very warm in Spain, but there was some cloud cover in the afternoon, allowing the track to cool from its peak of 55 degrees Celsius.
Most teams used the cooler conditions to assess their rubber for the British GP, but it was far from a trouble-free session for some. McLaren tester Alex Wurz was second fastest, over a second down on Button. However the Austrian did just 26 laps, and spent most of the day in the garage. In contrast, yesterday's pacesetter, David Coulthard, covered a race distance.
Felipe Massa was the busiest driver of the day, racking up 93 laps of the track as he tried out the team's new undertray and worked on set-up for Silverstone. He was third quickest, despite coasting to a halt on track in the dying minutes of the test.
Enrique Bernoldi was another driver to encounter problems. The Brazilian had a harmless spin early in the day, and lost further time with engine problems just before lunch. Antonio Pizzonia also had an engine let go in his Williams-BMW and he ended the test at the foot of the times.
Takuma Sato got an extra afternoon's more testing than he was expecting after Giancarlo Fisichella was caught up in the air traffic control strike that is blighting Europe's airways at the moment. He continued the tyre and suspension assessment he began yesterday, but his running was restricted by a gearbox gremlin that was only cleared after lunch.
Jaguar's Eddie Irvine spent the day setting some baseline figures so that the team has an effective guide by which it can evaluate its revised car when it arrives tomorrow. Irvine had a quick trip across the gravel, which ended with his car just glancing the barrier, but the R3 was undamaged and he went on to cover 63 laps in total.
Jenson Button Renault M 1m17.71s 87
Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes M 1m18.85s 26
Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas B 1m19.31s 93
David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m19.37s 66
Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth B 1m19.58s 48
Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda B 1m19.62s 60
Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m19.79s 89
Eddie Irvine Jaguar M 1m20.08s 63
Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW M 1m20.57s 65
M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone
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