Coulthard Fastest at Monza Testing

McLaren driver David Coulthard topped the timesheets at Monza, on the third day of testing at the Italian track. The Scot clocked a lap of 1:24.024, some two tenths of a second faster than Sauber's Kimi Raikkonen, who finished the day in second.

Coulthard's teammate, Mika Hakkinen, set the third fastest time of the day, albeit over half a second adrift from his teammate. However, both the McLarer drivers set a slower time than McLaren's test driver Alexander Wurz, who recorded a 1:23.838 in yesterday's session.

Coulthard and Hakkinen concentrated on tyre testing, and the team was pleased with the new compound tested in the afternoon. "The handling of the new tyre feels the same," Coulthard commented afterwards, "but I think it may have been a bit quicker. And, if it's quicker, then it must be good."

Jordan's Jarno Trulli carried out tyre comparisons for Bridgestone and continued work on general set-up and brake evaluation for the Italian Grand Prix. The team's test driver Ricardo Zonta spent the morning evaluating various aerodynamic packages and brake options, but his day was cut short when a component failure caused him to spin off the track into the gravel. Jordan later said significant damage was sustained by the car, but Zonta was unhurt.

Further action was seen when Raikkonen's engine expired during a hot lap. However, Sauber stated the engine had "reached its alloted mileage" and did not break down due to a problem.

Raikkonen himself, who concentrated on aerodynamic tyre evaluation, said he was pleased with today's work. "It's good to be back in the car again at Monza," the young Finn said. "We worked through our programme today and learned more about setting the car up both for Hockenheim and for the race here in September."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Time Laps 1. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:24.024 76 2. Raikkonen Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:24.261 78 3. Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:24.613 61 4. Trulli Jordan-Honda (B) 1:24.870 52 5. Lotterer Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:25.068 53 6. Zonta Jordan-Honda (B) 1:25.494 40 7. Manning BAR-Honda (B) 1:25.549 78 8. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:26.056 50 All Timing Unofficial