Jerez 3: Ferrari crush Williams

The Scuderia's three test drivers filled three of the first four spots whilst Williams' junior try-outs struggled. Luca Badoer headed Felipe Massa by over half a second, but Nelson Piquet Jr and Nico Rosberg brought up the rear of a timesheet covered by nearly five seconds.

Ferrari's squad worked to develop tyres and electronics using the 2003 chassis, whilst Williams, with four drivers present, tested just about everything they could. In addition to Rosberg and Piquet (who each had half a day's running today), Ralf Schumacher and Marc Gene were also at the Andalucian track.

"We finished the test with a wet day today," said Williams Chief Operations Engineer Sam Michael. "Which proved productive for wet tyre and traction control work, which supplemented a busy and productive test. Nelson and Nico did a good job and worked well with the team, as well as showing themselves to be technically competent."

In spite of relatively bitter and wet conditions in southern Spain, both Rosberg and Piquet were satisfied with their three-day experience at Williams. Each had a day and a half of running in total, but Piquet's full day on Tuesday was the only completely dry day of the test.

"This week was great fun, it was a really unbelievable experience," said Rosberg. "Of course there was a lot of pressure, but I decided not to worry about that and just to do the best I could. I was particularly happy that I managed to understand the car and work out how it was behaving, and after that I managed to set a good pace."



"It was difficult with all the anticipation, and my first day had a couple of interruptions and we lost maybe two hours," said Piquet. "But otherwise it went really well, particularly today despite it being wet for some of the time, and I was quite satisfied with how I got on."

Jarek Janis outpaced both Williams youngsters on the second day of his Jordan trial, finishing ninth quickest. BAR-Honda's two 2004 racers were also at at Jerez. Williams have concluded their test, but Ferrari will be back at the circuit tomorrow.



Luca Badoer (Ferrari) 1m25.439s
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1m26.059ss
Nick Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford) 1m26.581s
Luciano Burti (Ferrari) 1m26.666s
Jenson Button (BAR-Honda) 1m26.709s
Marc Gene (Williams-BMW) 1m26.957s
Ralf Schumacher (Willliams-BMW) 1m26.976s
Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda) 1m27.437ss
Jarek Janis (Jordan-Ford) 1m28.030s
Nelson Piquet Jr (Williams-BMW) 1m28.640s
Nico Rosberg (Wiliams-BMW) 1m30.262s