Barcelona, day 3: New Ferrari fastest
Michael Schumacher retained his position at the head of the timesheets in testing at Barcelona today, comfortably out-pacing rivals Williams and McLaren around the home of the Spanish GP
However, despite covering 70 laps of the track, the world champion suffered a mechanical failure late in the day, and remains unconvinced as to whether the team should risk the F2002 in Brazil. Rubens Barrichello was second quickest, also in the new car, but like his team-mate he's happy to continue with the 2001 car at his home grand prix.
Neither of Ferrari's main rivals showed their hands in the test, with David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher well down the order. Fastest McLaren was Alex Wurz in an MP4-16B, the Austrian ending the day just fractions behind Barrichello and fourth tenths off Michael after 84 laps of tyre testing. Williams test driver Marc Gene also tested Michelins on a year-old car, and was fifth fastest.
Sandwiched in fourth was Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa. The Spaniard drove both the R2 and R3, setting his quickest time in the 2001 car in the morning, when most drivers did their best. Like Ferrari the team is yet to decide which car it will use in Brazil. De la Rosa suffered a mechanical failure in the R3, although that is unlikely to influence the team's decision.
On a day when BAR announced sweeping structural changes (see separate story) Olivier Panis and Anthony Davidson were on hand to assess aerodynamic tweaks on the recalcitrant 004. Panis set a best lap of 1m20.521, while Davidson, who did a race simulation, was eight tenths slower.
Sauber's Felipe Massa brought out the day's first red flag after suffering an electrical failure, and further stoppages were caused by de la Rosa, Michael, Wurz, Luca Badoer (in the F2001) and Giancarlo Fisichella. All were mechanical problems, but worst off was Jarno Trulli, whose running was restricted to just seven laps by electrical gremlins.
Testing continues tomorrow
Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 1m18.413s 70
Rubens Barrichello Ferrari B 1m18.844s 56
Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes* M 1m18.879s 84
Pedro de la Rosa Jaguar* M 1m19.247s 78
Marc Gene Williams-BMW* M 1m19.537s 107
Luca Badoer Ferrari* B 1m19.567s 98
David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m19.847s 63
Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda B 1m20.383s 60
Olivier Panis BAR-Honda B 1m20.521s 66
Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m20.651s 81
Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas B 1m20.743s 78
Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda B 1m21.281s 82
Mika Salo Toyota M 1m22.100s 47
Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m38.057s 7
M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone
* denotes 2001 car
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