Heidfeld Fastest at Barcelona - Day Seven

German Nick Heidfeld, driving the new Sauber-Petronas C20, set the fastest time on the seventh consecutive day of testing at the Barcelona circuit.

Heidfeld, who has been in impressive form during the pre-season testing with the Sauber, was the only driver capable of running whitin the one minute 20 seconds bracket, being two tenths faster than Canadian Jacques Villeneuve.

The BAR driver, at the wheel of the new Honda-powered 003 replacing Darren Manning, returned to work after the launch of the new car on Friday. The Canadian was the busiest man today, completing a total of 85 laps.

Finland's Kimi Raikkonen was third quickest driving the second Sauber, completing a top-three for the Bridgestone runners, while Williams' test driver Marc Gene was the first Michelin user.

The Spaniard concluded a three-day session driving the old FW22 chassis, and he was pleased with the results.

"Today we were able to complete all the laps we had planned (79). We've worked on the 2000 car, testing different tyre compounds and various gear ratios," Gene said.

"I'm really pleased with our progress during these days. In order to see where we stand we have to test the new car, but I'm sure we'll close the gap to the top."

The Jaguar team joined the testing session today, with both their drivers at the wheel of the Michelin-shod car.

Eddie Irvine was fifth fastest driving the new 2001 car, more than two seconds behind Heidfeld's time, while teammate Luciano Burti could only complete ten laps and was almost five seconds off the pace.

Testing at Barcelona will resume on Sunday.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:20.842 2. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:21.049 3. Raikkonen Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:21.279 4. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:21.536 5. Irvine Jaguar (M) 1:22.929 6. Burti Jaguar (M) 1:25.422 All Timing Unofficial