Button on Top Again at Silverstone - Day Two

Jenson Button set the pace for the second consecutive day in testing at the Silverstone circuit, where eight Formula One teams were in action on Wednesday.

Briton Button continued to shine at the wheel of the promising Renault R202, lapping quicker than on Tuesday to edge Williams driver Ralf Schumacher, who joined the test today and worked alongside the team's test driver Marc Gene.

"We concentrated on a tyre programme for Michelin today," said Renault's technical director Mike Gascoyne. "Jenson was pleased with the car once again, and the times were very competitive. Overall, it was a productive day."

Driving the Cosworth-powered R3, Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine set the third quickest time, while German Nick Heidfeld was fourth quickest with the first of the Bridgestone-shod cars, the Sauber driver continuing working on aerodynamics set-ups for the Spanish and British Grands Prix.

"We had another good run today, with plenty of work to get our teeth into," said Heidfeld. "The only problems were when the sessions had to be stopped twice because of red flags brought out by other drivers who had trouble on the circuit.

"The C21 ran well throughout, and I'm really pleased we were also able to try some practice starts so we can improve that aspect of things in Barcelona."

The British American Racing team worked with three men today after test driver Anthony Davidson was joined by Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve. The Frenchman was the quickest of the three, posting the sixth fastest time ahead of the Jordan Hondas of Takuma Sato and Giancarlo Fisichella.

"I feel today went well although I did have a couple of problems in the afternoon which meant I was not able to complete the tyre test programme as planned," said Sato at the end of the day.

"I did complete 15 timed laps in the morning though, so I am pleased with that. The set up work was good and the car does feel better."

Malaysian Alex Yoong, who failed to qualify for last Sunday's San Marino Grand Prix, finished at the bottom of the timesheets nearly six seconds off the pace.

"It has been a frustrating day, since I was effectively able to do only two runs, one before lunch and one right at the end of the day," said Yoong. "I went off the circuit this morning as the result of a technical problem with the car, and it took awhile to repair.

"On the positive side, we did productive 'aero' runs, some good launch-control starts, and put laps on the new power-steering system, which works perfectly. Generally, the aim was to get some useful technical data today, which we accomplished."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Button Renault (M) 1:21.928 56 2. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:22.258 40 3. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:22.442 73 4. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:23.109 73 5. Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 1:23.109 78 6. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 1:23.210 54 7. Sato Jordan-Honda (M) 1:23.346 56 8. Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:23.436 48 9. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:23.517 34 10. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:23.817 34 11. Davidson BAR-Honda (B) 1:24.032 48 12. Yoong Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:27.722 43 All Timing Unofficial

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