F1 testing: Seconds out, round two!

From Jerez in the south last week, where Michelin's rubber was impressive in wet conditions but struggled in the dry, the teams move north for the second of three legs of testing before Christmas. They now split into two factions with the Bridgestone runners, which do not start until tomorrow, opting for the twisty Valencia circuit, 200 miles to the south of Barcelona, instead.

Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya continue their head-to-head at Barcelona for new teams Benetton and Williams respectively. Jaguar Racing will also be on hand with three cars and four drivers - Eddie Irvine, Luciano Burti, test driver Tomas Scheckter and German F3 ace Andre Lotterer.

Prost Grand Prix is also due to make its first run since the Malaysian Grand Prix, using the last of it's supply of Peugeot V10s before switching to Ferrari customer engines in the New Year. The Paris-based team is set to run a plethora of young talent in order to establish who will partner Jean Alesi in the second AP04 next year.

Big guns McLaren and Ferrari will continue development work for next year at Valencia, running for three days starting on Wednesday. David Coulthard and new test driver Alex Wurz will share duties for the Woking-based team, while Rubens Barrichello and Luca Badoer do the honours for the Prancing Horse.

The Arrows team is expected to spend the three days getting to grips with the Peugeot-based AMT engine, while Jordan will continue to put miles on its Honda-powered interim EJ10B chassis.

The two main protagonists in this year's title battle will not be present at the test. World Champion Michael Schumacher is still recovering from a leg operation while runner-up Mika Hakkinen gets used to fatherhood after the birth of his first son on Monday. Neither is due to drive an F1 car until the New Year.

Autosport.com will be on hand with all the news and action as it happens in Spain this week, so keep up-to-date with what's happening in Barcelona and Valencia.