Barcelona test, day 2: DC and Alex stay top

The Scot was running a 2000-spec engine as he continued with Bridgestone's pre-season tyre development programme, but still pipped McLaren test driver Alex Wurz in the 'K' version of last year's MP4-15, which is fitted with a 2001-spec engine, gearbox and differential.

Coulthard brought at the red flags at 16:45 local time (15:45 GMT) when his engine blew.

It was the day's third red flag after Pedro de la Rosa stopped his Arrows-AMT A21 when testing the team's traction control system and Heinz-Harald Frentzen parked up his Jordan-Honda EJ11 with suspected gearbox problems.

Nevertheless, it was a better showing for the Spanish Arrows driver, who had caused four red flags the previous day and failed to set a time. In the morning, running without traction control, de la Rosa had completed 67 trouble-free laps.

Jordan's EJ11 was the only 2001-spec machine running at the test. Frentzen put in 23 laps in short bursts before the gearbox maladies meant the team spent the afternoon stripping down and rebuilding his car.

Ferrari stayed on at Barcelona following Luca Badoer's massive testing shunt yesterday, but did not run. Michael Schumacher joins up with the team again tomorrow (Tuesday) for his first outing in an F1 car since last year's season-closing Malaysian Grand Prix.

Ferrari is still piecing together the cause of Badoer's shunt, in which his car was launched into a somersault at the end of Barcelona's main straight and cleared a tyre wall. A suspension failure causing the left rear tyre to destroy the rear wing is the prime suspect, but the Italian team and McLaren have both asked to view the circuit's closed-circuit TV footage of the incident.

Prost GP joins in tomorrow with its Ferrari-powered AP04, with Gaston Mazzacane and Jean Alesi sharing the driving duties. Williams-BMW will also join in on Thursday, Marc Gene running a 2000-spec car for Michelin development purposes.



David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes MP4-15, 1m20.38s, 75 laps
Alex Wurz*, McLaren-Mercedes MP4-15K, 1m20.66s, 32
Pedro de la Rosa, Arrows-AMT A21, 1m21.10s, 67
Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jordan-Honda EJ11 (2001 car), 1m22.20s, 23
*denotes test driver
All drivers on Bridgestone tyres