Fisichella Fastest at Barcelona - Day One

Benetton driver Giancarlo Fisichella topped the time sheets on Tuesday at the Barcelona circuit, where four Formula One teams, all of them on Michelin tyres, began a three-day session.

The Italian, driving an hybrid B200 chassis fitted with the new Renault engine as well as a new rear suspension and gearbox, set an unofficial fastest lap of 1:20.878, nearly one tenth of a second faster than Michael Schumacher's pole position time in the 2000 Spanish Grand Prix.

Fisichella's Benetton was damaged after the Italian slid over a kerb, forcing his session to finish earlier than expected.

Ralf Schumacher was second fastest in the Williams-BMW, more than half a second behind Fisichella.

The young German driver focused on engine and tyre development and he was pleased with the way things worked all day long.

"I have spent the day working on tyre development and we successfully completed our job list for today," said Schumacher. "Together with Michelin we have addressed several areas and we are pleased with the results that have been generated."

Jaguar's Eddie Irvine was third despite some technical problems that restricted his session, the Ulsterman lapping more than half a second faster than his qualifying time last season.

New Benetton recruit Jenson Button was fourth quickest on his second outing with the team, but his session was cut short due to an engine failure and he finished more than one second off Fisichella's time.

Luciano Burti, in the second Jaguar, was fifth fastest, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya, who was pretty content with his day's work at the wheel of the second Williams.

"We did some long runs today and overall I’m very happy with our progress," said Montoya. "From comparing myself with Ralf, it seems that I’m losing a little time through the faster corners, but I’m in no rush to take everything flat as was the case last week in Jerez, I shall continue applying myself in a steady and step by step manner."

Spaniard Marc Gene finished the day behind the Colombian driver in the third Williams, while Jean Alesi was eighth and last in the Prost.

Testing will continue on Wednesday in Barcelona, while other teams, including McLaren and Ferrari, will begin a three-day session at the Valencia circuit.

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Reuters images from today's test session: &url=osq9405r">Spain: British Formula One Driver Jenson Button Drives In Barcelona. &url=osq9405f">Spain: Formula One Pilot Eddie Irvine And Team Mate Brazilian Luciano Burti. &url=osq9405e">Spain: Brazilian Formula One Driver Luciano Burti Tests In Barcelona. &url=osq94058">Spain: Formula One Pilot Jenson Button Sits In His Benetton Car. &url=osq94053">Spain: Bmw Williams F1 German Driver Ralf Schumacher Prepares For Testing. ------

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. Fisichella Benetton-Renault (M) 1:20.877 2. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:21.418 3. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:21.802 4. Button Benetton-Renault (M) 1:22.197 5. Burti Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:22.588 6. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:22.730 7. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:22.780 8. Alesi Prost-Peugeot (M) 1:23.666 All Timing Unofficial (.*)", $lines_string, $head); $title = $head[0]; $clean1 = str_replace("TITLE", "b", $title); $clean2 = str_replace("(REUTPX)", "", $clean1); $clean3 = str_replace("2000-12-12 : SPAIN: ", "", $clean2); $clean4 = strtolower($clean3); $clean5 = str_replace("", " ", $clean4); $clean6 = ucwords($clean5); eregi("

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