Coulthard Fastest at Paul Ricard - Day Three

McLaren driver David Coulthard posted the quickest time on the third day of testing at the Paul Ricard circuit, where despite some rain in the morning, the teams were able to carry out their programmes thanks to the improved weather in the afternoon.

Scot Coulthard, who joined the session yesterday, was testing a revised front end in his MP4/17D. The McLaren driver completed 124 laps and finished ahead of Canadian BAR driver Jacques Villeneuve in the only Bridgestone-shod car on track today.

Championship leaders McLaren were in action with three cars, the other two driven by tester Alexander Wurz, fastest yesterday, and Kimi Raikkonen, who replaced Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa. Wurz finished as third quickest while Raikkonen was fourth ahead of German Ralf Schumacher in the fastest of the two Williams. The other FW25 car was driven by Marc Gene, who finished seventh.

"We had another wet start at Paul Ricard this morning, but the weather improved during the course of the day as the track dried out," said Williams' test team manager Tim Newton. "With the moderate improvement in the weather, we managed a somewhat more productive day than yesterday."

Toyota were the other team in action today, with both their racing drivers Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis. The Frenchman was the only man who was unable to set a time within the 1:08s bracket, finishing at the bottom of the times.

Testing will conclude tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:08.019 124 2. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:08.199 135 3. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:08.337 114 4. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:08.393 88 5. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:08.403 87 6. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:08.590 99 7. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:08.717 94 8. Panis Toyota (M) 1:09.969 46 All Timing Unofficial

Visit Atlas F1's Testing Center for further information