Brits shine for BAR

The Englishman spent all day posting times in the top ten and that, combined with encouraging performances from test driver Anthony Davidson in the first session, has given Button high expectations heading into tomorrow's qualifying session. Button, like Mark Webber, was delighted with the introduction of third cars and test drivers to Friday free practice and along with team-mate Takuma Sato predicted that Davidson will play a key role in BAR's competitiveness in 2004.

"It felt quite strange leaving most of the driving to Anthony but he's done a great job of obtaining information for myself and Taku [Sato] for the second session," said Button. "He's going to play a key role in the way our race weekends shape up this season as Taku and I preserve our engines.

"We're working really well together, exactly as we do in testing, and there isn't any learning curve for us as a driver line-up, which is going to be a significant advantage.

"The car feels strong and we have some good tyre options, so I'm feeling positive about the race debut of the 006. The conditions are improving all the time as the circuit cleans up and I'm looking forward to more set-up work tomorrow morning in readiness for what is likely to be a very interesting qualifying session."

For Davidson it was the first time he had competed in a grand prix practice session since his two-race race stint for Minardi in the autumn of 2002 and was clearly happy to be back: " It was fun to see my name up there with all the other drivers. I'm pretty happy with my times and I have adapted to the track very quickly.

"All the work I have done over the winter to learn the new circuits certainly seems to have paid off today. Of course, it's great to be here as part of an established driver line-up. It's just like being at a test with them really, so I feel very comfortable. I think the new Friday format will work well and will be a very important part of moving the team forward."