Barrichello Remains Ahead at Barcelona - Day Two

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello kept the top spot on the timesheets at the end of the second day of testing at the Barcelona circuit, where eleven drivers took to the track today.

Ferrari driver Barrichello was unable to improve his time in the afternoon session, but his lap of 1:16.900 was enough to keep him ahead of teammate Michael Schumacher, who finished the day nearly four tenths of a second behind the Brazilian. Both men worked at the wheel of the F2002 chassis and concentrated on tyre testing for Bridgestone.

CART champion Cristiano da Matta posted a promising third fastest time as he continued to get to grips with the demands of a Formula One car. The Brazilian Toyota driver, who tested at Barcelona with the new TF103 chassis for the first time yesterday, managed 77 laps but could not match his pace from yesterday and was nearly half a second slower.

"From the moment we started testing on Sunday morning, I found the car nice to drive here," said da Matta. "It had a good balance right away, and quite a lot more grip overall compared to last week. Still, it was my first run on this circuit with the TF103 and, of course, we have some room left to play with set-up adjustments and in other areas, but I am pleased with the progress accomplished in just two days.

"It is always rewarding to see that this feeling is confirmed by some competitive lap times as well and I am very happy that I feel better and better every day in the car and within the team."

Italy's Jarno Trulli was the quickest of the Renault duo on the first day of work for the French squad at the Spanish circuit. Trulli set the fourth fastest time with the Michelin-shod R23, while Renault's test driver Allan McNish was almost 1.5 seconds off Trulli's pace and finished at the bottom of the times.

"We had a very useful first day of testing in Barcelona," said Renault's technical director Mike Gascoyne. "In the morning, both drivers worked on engine mapping. In the afternoon Jarno completed a tyre programme for Michelin whereas Allan did some long runs in order to check engine and chassis reliability."

Briton Jenson Button, working with the new 005 chassis from the BAR team, wound up fifth quickest as the Brackley-based outfit continued with the development work of the new car. Button worked alongside teammate Jacques Villeneuve and outpaced the Canadian by more than half a second.

The Sauber and Jaguar teams joined the Barcelona test today, both outfits working with only one car. Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, with the new Petronas-powered C22, was sixth fastest ahead of Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia with the Michelin-shod Jaguar R4.

Heidfeld worked on a programme of aerodynamic development, but the windy conditions in the afternoon made it hard for the Swiss squad to complete their work. Despite that, The German driver was happy with his session.

"I was pleased with the way that things went today," said Heidfeld at the end of the day. "The car ran without problems and I covered one and a half race distances with complete reliability and at competitive speeds. I think we made some good progress."

Williams drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher set some unimpressive times in today's session, the Colombian finishing as ninth quickest, his fastest lap set in the morning with the FW24 chassis. Schumacher, who was driving the new FW25 that was unveiled last week, only managed to outpace McNish after 62 laps.

Testing continues tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:16.900 64 2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:17.282 88 3. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:17.653 77 4. Trulli Renault (M) 1:17.778 54 5. Button BAR-Honda (B) 1:17.826 66 6. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:17.907 94 7. Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.079 41 8. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.342 68 9. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.511 41 10. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.725 62 11. McNish Renault (M) 1:19.203 64 All Timing Unofficial

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