Barcelona day 2: Ferrari stays on top

"Today was trouble-free," said Villeneuve, "and we had no engine problems which gave me a chance to play a little with the set-up. The car is quite good and it is easier to work with than last year's. When I do change the settings the car is more responsive and more predictable in its response. It gives me a logical reaction."

Villeneuve has made it clear of his dislike for the HANS safety system mandatory for 2003, and blamed his lack of visibility yesterday for this. He was forced to sit too low in the car and as a result was unable to see the exit of certain corners. BAR found him a higher seating position this morning. "We did manage to change the seating position a little," Villeneuve said, "but I think it's a matter of just getting used to it."

Villeneuve will test again tomorrow and this will be the first time since 1999 that he has competed three days back-to-back in a test. Observers are suggesting that he seems especially eager to learn as much about the car as he can, and that he is also keen to put new team-mate Jenson Button in his place early on. "We are not hiding anything from one another and we are using the same computers," he said of his working relationship with the Englishman, "but I haven't talked to him."

Schumacher spent the day working through an intensive tyre programme that included a number of long runs, while team-mate Rubens Barrichello, second quickest, also worked on the transmission. Button suffered from hydraulic issues for most of the day and although the problem was swiftly diagnosed it proved hard to uncover due to the tightly packed nature of the engine lay-out.

The Jaguar drivers swapped roles for the day, with Antonio Pizzonia trying the new R4 for the first time while Mark Webber continued to develop the new Cosworth power unit in one of last year's R3s. The Brazilian suffered a massive engine failure mid-morning but returned to the track for the last two hours of running. Which was more than can be said for Jordan, who halted testing while a faulty part was sent back to England to be replaced. However it was delayed at Barcelona airport and Giancarlo Fisichella is not expected back on track until at least tomorrow afternoon.

Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 1m17.204s 88
Rubens Barrichello Ferrari B 1m17.606s 54
Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda B 1m18.799s 51*
Luciano Burti Ferrari B 1m18.845s 39
Jenson Button BAR-Honda B 1m19.126s 20*
Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth M 1m19.148s 40*
Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth M 1m19.834s 29

B = Bridgestone
M = Michelin
* denotes 2003 car