Monza 2: Hot Pizzonia
Following the heartbreak of being 'robbed' of his first podium in Formula 1 at Spa, Antonio Pizzonia proved that he's going to make the most of what might be his final drive standing in for Ralf Schumacher at the Italian Grand Prix by topping the testing times at Monza in style on Thursday. The day was overshadowed, however, by Michael Schumacher's high-speed accident, from which he emerged unscathed
The Brazilian lapped his Williams-BMW in 1m20.027s, over seven-tenths clear of Spa winner Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren. Rubens Barrichello was third fastest for Ferrari, a fraction clear of BAR's Anthony Davidson (who stopped out on track twice, once due to a gearbox failure) and Takuma Sato. Schumacher ended the day in the barriers, but his best time was enough for sixth overall.
Renault's Fernando Alonso was seventh fastest, ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams), David Coulthard (McLaren) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber). Jenson Button's BAR, which like Sato's was fitted with the latest high-revving Monza-spec Honda, was down in 12th, ahead of Jarno Trulli's Renault which suffered an off-track excursion early in the afternoon and sustained minor damage to the chassis.
Minardi kicked off its secondary test programme at Vallelunga Circuit, near Rome with Russia's Sergey Zlobin covering 226km and lapping in 1m06.850s.
Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW M 1m20.027s 76
Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes M 1m20.778s 92
Rubens Barrichello Ferrari B 1m20.862s 58
Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda M 1m20.872s 58
Takuma Sato BAR-Honda M 1m20.974s 91
Michael Schumacher Ferrari B 1m21.055 96
Fernando Alonso Renault M 1m21.077s 115
Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m21.090 69
David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes M 1m21.176s 87
Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas B 1m21.176s 99
Christian Klien Jaguar M 1m21.502s 62
Jenson Button BAR-Honda M 1m21.603s 87
Jarno Trulli Renault M 1m21.652s 32
Mark Webber Jaguar M 1m21.675s 62
Olivier Panis Toyota M 1m22.476s 57
Ricardo Zonta Toyota M 1m22.870s 57
Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth B 1m24.088s 42
Timo Glock Jordan-Ford B 1m24.122s 86
Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth B 1m25.024s 17
Pizzonia Breaks Monza Record, Schumacher Crashes
Zlobin Tests for Minardi at Vallelunga
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