Montoya Breaks Monza Record Again

The Colombian's best lap of 1:19.813 was more than two tenths clear of teammate Kimi Raikkonen as the pair worked on tyre evaluation during what has been a hectic two days for the outfit.

With McLaren only having four days left out of their 30-day testing allocation, the team had to get through their programme as efficiently as possible - which they successfully did. They are now packing up and will miss the final day of action on Friday.

World Championship leader Fernando Alonso and teammate Giancarlo Fisichella were concentrating on long runs during the day, although they were right behind the McLarens on the timesheets.

"We had a big programme to run today, and it required a disciplined approach to get everything done," said Renault's chief test engineer Christian Silk. "The bulk of our work was on tyre testing - compounds and constructions for both Monza and Spa.

"We also took time to conduct brake evaluation and tick this off our job list for the Grand Prix here in Monza, and also completed some set-up work for next weekend and the following race in Spa."

Mark Webber had an encouraging day for Williams to set the fifth fastest time, as he and teammate Nick Heidfeld focused on tyre work, while sixth fastest Michael Schumacher worked through a programme of set-up work and tyre evaluation.

BAR technical director Geoff Willis and sporting director Gil de Ferran flew in to oversee the progress of their team, with Jenson Button concentrating on aerodynamic work to set the seventh fastest time. Teammate Takuma Sato as right behind him despite suffering a gearbox problem in the morning.

Toyota continued to encounter problems with their B-spec car, which was being driven by Ricardo Zonta. The Brazilian failed to set a flying lap during the day. Olivier Panis, meanwhile, worked again with the car fitted with the V8 engine, finishing nearly 10 seconds off the pace.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team               Tyres  Time     Laps
 1.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:19.813  120
 2.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:20.082   73
 3.  Alonso        Renault              (M)  1:20.251  131
 4.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  1:20.707  144
 5.  Webber        Williams-BMW         (M)  1:20.972  122
 6.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  1:21.071   97
 7.  Button        BAR-Honda            (M)  1:21.222  113
 8.  Sato          BAR-Honda            (M)  1:21.447  103
 9.  Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:21.396   76
10.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Cosworth    (M)  1:21.698   84
11.  Heidfeld      Williams-BMW         (M)  1:21.817   59
12.  Klien         Red Bull-Cosworth    (M)  1:21.908   99
13.  Villeneuve    Sauber-Petronas      (M)  1:21.923  120
14.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (M)  1:22.137  109
15.  Monteiro      Jordan-Toyota        (B)  1:23.388   77
15.  Doornbos      Minardi-Cosworth     (B)  1:24.794   29
17.  Kiesa         Jordan-Toyota        (B)  1:24.795   36
18.  Carroll       BAR-Honda            (M)  1:25.097   36
19.  Pastorelli    Jordan-Toyota        (M)  1:25.102  102
20.  Panis         Toyota               (M)  1:29.601   29

21.  Zonta         Toyota               (M)  No time     5

All Timing Unofficial