Barcelona test, day 2: Ferrari flies

The world champion covered a mammoth 105 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya, setting a best time of 1m18.470s as he concentrated on tyre and electronic development. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello made it a one-two for the Scuderia and was just over a tenth down.

Nick Heidfeld carried over his strong performance from the morning and ended the day in third place. The Sauber C21 was once again the quickest 2002 machine and the German was very happy with its handling as was team-mate Felipe Massa who was sixth.

Sandwiched between the two Saubers were the Williams of Antonio Pizzonia and Ralf Schumacher. Pizzonia was testing the latest version of the BMW engine and managed 91 laps despite spinning in the morning. Ralf also lost time with a gearbox problem in the FW24 before handing the car over to Juan Pablo Montoya in the afternoon.

Jenson Button drove the new Renault for the second time and once again the car went well. The Englishman's best lap of 1m20.097s was just a hundredth down on Jarno Trulli in the 2001 Benetton, although the Italian's running was plagued by electronic glitches.

Jacques Villeneuve's second impressions on the BAR 004 proved to be rather less favourable than his first, the former world champion languishing well down the order.

"I'm not pleased," he said. "The car doesn't feel as good as it did three weeks ago - there's been no progress. I had a problem with the seat, but that's normal with a new car. I don't know when the team is going to have a new chassis ready and I'm not sure that we are going to be good enough in time for Melbourne."

Another driver struggling with his seat was Takuma Sato in the Jordan EJ12. The Japanese complained of severe discomfort and this was reflected in his time - a 1m22.599s - just three tenths up on German Formula Renault rookie Marcel Lasee.

McLaren tested at Valencia today with David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen. Coulthard was slightly the quicker of the two, setting a best lap of 1m12.269s in the new MP4-17, just a tenth off the track record. Raikkonen was just a fraction slower than his team-mate.


Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 1m18.470s 105
Rubens Barrichello Ferrari B 1m18.637s 67
Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas* B 1m18.817s 95
Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW M 1m19.240s 91
Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW* M 1m19.430s 28
Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas B 1m19.513s 75
Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m19.754s 24
Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m20.082s 58
Jenson Button Renault* M 1m20.097s 33
Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda B 1m20.155s 91
Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda* B 1m21.098s 43
Mika Salo Toyota* M 1m21.358s 18
Allan McNish Toyota* M 1m21.684s 41
Takuma Sato Jordan-Honda* B 1m22.599s 46
Marcel Lasee Jordan-Honda B 1m22.889s 80
Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW* M 1m46.189s 16

M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone
* denotes 2002 car