Barcelona, day 3 am: Renault on top

Button set a best lap of 1m17.687s, just under a tenth faster than Trulli managed. The Englishman spent most of the morning completing a simulated race run, but just after midday he tried the car in qualifying trim and new soft compound tyres. During his race simulation, Button consistently set laps in the low 1m20s, and he was delighted with the car's performance.

After its troubles yesterday, Jordan had a more productive day and Takuma Sato was second quickest with a 1m18.962s. Team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella covered almost 50 laps in the morning in the EJ12, but was over a second further back.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen drove the Arrows for the first time since the double rear wing failure in Valencia, which the team puts down to the different vibration characteristic of the Cosworth engine compared to last year's Asiatech, and he was fourth fastest.

Both Mark Webber and Alex Yoong drove for Minardi, and the Australian was close to Frentzen's pace, setting a best lap of 1m21.029s.

Testing continues this afternoon.


Jenson Button Renault M 1m17.687s 61
Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda B 1m18.962s 32
Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda B 1m20.387s 49
Heinz-Harald Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth B 1m20.645s 25
Mark Webber Minardi-Asiatech M 1m21.029s 27
Alex Yoong Minardi-Asiatech M 1m23.725s 11

M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone