Heidfeld Shines in Barcelona (Morning Session)

Nick Heidfeld was the surprise of the morning session, in the second day of testing at the Barcelona circuit, after setting the fastest time with his Sauber.

The German driver, who has been showing an impressive form since testing started this month, beat Olivier Panis's best time from Monday, lapping almost half a second faster than the Frenchman, who didn't run during the morning.

Again under sunny conditions - though somewhat cooler than yesterday - the session was marked by the small gap between the top eight drivers, who were all covered by less than a second.

Jordan's Jarno Trulli was second fastest, only seven hundredths of a second behind Heidfeld.

The Jordan team was once again hit by problems, as Heinz-Harald Frentzen's car had to be towed back to the pits after a mechanical failure forced him to stop, causing the session to be red-flagged for some minutes.

Brazil's Rubens Barrichello replaced test driver Luca Badoer at the wheel of the only Ferrari running at the circuit, and he was one of the busiest men during the morning, completing 31 laps and setting the third quickest time with 1:20.282.

McLaren drivers David Coulthard and Alex Wurz set the fourth and seventh fastest times respectively, after completing ver few laps compared to some of their rivals.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve got back to work with the British American Racing team, testing for the first time since the end of last season.

The BAR driver completed more laps than anyone else, with a total of 40, setting the fifth fastest time - three hundredths off the top.

British Formula Three champion Antonio Pizzonia continued his work with the Arrows team, and after being unable to complete many laps on Monday, the Brazilian was one of the first drivers to begin testing in the morning.

Pizzonia was some two seconds off the pace using the 2000-spec Bridgestone tyres, while Mark Hynes, who tested for BAR once more, set the slowest time of the morning session, more than four seconds behind Heidfeld.

Morning session times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:20.132 2. Trulli Jordan-Honda (B) 1:20.207 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:20.282 4. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:20.331 5. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:20.474 6. Frentzen Jordan-Honda (B) 1:20.664 7. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:20.852 8. Raikkonen Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:21.045 9. Pizzonia Arrows-AMT (B) 1:22.520 10. Hynes BAR-Honda (B) 1:24.158 All Timing Unofficial