Gene fastest at Barcelona in a 2004 car

Gene was first out on the track in the morning, while his Ferrari teammates spent their day at the official launch of the 248 F1 car, and the Spaniard conducted engine and tyre work.

And although Gene's best time of 1:16.583 was not threatened by other drivers, there did not seem much concern down the pitlane.

Juan Pablo Montoya, getting his first taste of the new McLaren MP4-21, said: "It is hard to say where Ferrari stand. They are running here and they are really quick, but they are in a 2004 car.

"If their new car is as quick as that then yes, they will be at the front. But last year they did not build such a good car, so we will wait and see what happens."

Jacques Villeneuve continued to show good form in the new BMW-Sauber F1.06, having been quickest overall on Monday. He set the second fastest time to just pip Montoya's McLaren by six thousandths of a second.

The fact that Montoya managed to complete 87 laps was encouragement for the team after the engine problems that marred the opening day of action for the MP4-21 yesterday.

Montoya himself was quite pleased with the progress, although he admitted the ultimate judge of how good it was would only come in Bahrain.

"The real question is how quick is the car," he said. "The car seems to be quick and the engine so far has done quite a lot of improvement, but we will see."

Gary Paffett was fourth fastest overall in the V10 MP4-20, but he lost valuable track time with a suspected mechanical problem that kept him in the garage for a few hours.

Nick Heidfeld brought out the second red flag just after 4:00pm, when he stopped out on the track with the interim BMW-Sauber due to a problem with gear selection.

Robert Doornbos was at the bottom of the timesheets in the Red Bull Racing RB2, as the team continued to work on the overheating problems that have marred their earlier running.

The Dutch driver brought out the final red flag of the day at 4:57pm, when he stopped on the track to bring proceedings to an end.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver      Team                  Time      Laps
 1.  Gene        Ferrari          (B)  1:16.583   88
 2.  Villeneuve  BMW-Sauber       (M)  1:17.633   92
 3.  Montoya     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  1:17.639   87
 4.  Paffett     McLaren-Mercedes (M)  1:17.798   55
 5.  Heidfeld    BMW-Sauber       (M)  1:18.393   23
 6.  Doornbos    Red Bull-Ferrari (M)  1:19.104   61

All timing unofficial