Barcelona test, day 4: Schumacher edges DC

The German, who missed the whole of December's test schedule and the bulk of January's recovering from a leg operation, was over half a second faster than David Coulthard's McLaren-Mercedes on day four of the test (Wednesday). Both men set their fastest time in the morning - and both at exactly the same time: 10:57 local time (09:57 GMT). In the afternoon, rising track temperatures and stronger winds prevented faster times being set..

Schumacher continued with Bridgestone tyre development testing, running two 12-lap stints, four 10-lap stints and four five-lap stints using last year's F1-2000 chassis. Again, the reigning world champion reported no discomfort in his leg.

Coulthard continued Bridgestone testing, but stopped early after his gearbox failed on the main straight at 15:45 local time. The Scot, running a 2000-spec engine, completed three 16-lap stints in the course of the day, but was consistently 0.2-0.3s off Schumacher's pace.

Alex Wurz was third for McLaren, but ended his day just after lunch following another failure of Mercedes' 2001-spec engine. It was the fifth engine failure since Sunday for McLaren, including at least three 2001-spec units. With no more new units in the truck, McLaren will pack up and prepare for its exclusive Jerez test that begins on Monday.

Jos Verstappen was fourth for Arrows. The Dutchman was gearbox and tyre testing, but the team wrapped things up early for the day when several of his AMT-powered A21's components approached the end of their safe life. New components will be on hand for tomorrow.

Jarno Trulli was out in the 2001-spec EJ11, running 34 laps to finish the day fifth, ahead of Gaston Mazzacane's 2001-spec Prost AP04. The Argentinian, who had spun at the first corner early in the day, was running in the 1m26s bracket for much of the day, but steeled himself for a 1m24.68s quick lap late in the afternoon - 2.10s slower than Trulli's 2001-spec benchmark for the day.

Prost also packs up and heads home this evening, but will be back in action again in Barcelona on Saturday. Joining the test tomorrow will be Olivier Panis and BAR.

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 1m21.14s, 94 laps
David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m21.69s, 79 laps
Alex Wurz *, McLaren-Mercedes, 1m21.79s, 41 laps
Jos Verstappen, Arrows-AMT, 1m22.35s, 59 laps
Jarno Trulli, Jordan-Honda (2001 car), 1m22.58s, 34 laps
Gaston Mazzacane, Prost-Ferrari (2001 car), 1m24.68s, 43 laps

N.B. All cars on Bridgestone bar Prost