Panis Fastest at Jerez

The first official winter testing session, ahead of the 2001 season, came to an end today, with BAR's Olivier Panis ending the fastest lapper of the day.

Panis set a time of 1:23.55 in the morning session, which was run in cool and dry weather conditions. However, the afternoon session saw heavy rain fall on the Spanish circuit, which meant that no other driver could better Panis's time.

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and McLaren's David Coulthard were second and third fastest for Ferrari and McLaren respectively, while Kimi Raikkonen was an impressive sixth quickest. The Finn set a best time of 1:24.18 - just over a second slower than teammate Nick Heidfeld, who was fourth fastest.

Japan's Takuma Sato made his F1 testing debut with Jordan, marking him the youngest Japanese driver in the sport, but a spin on a damp track with dry weather tyres spoiled his day. "It is fantastic to have been given such an opportunity by Jordan and it is a big step for me," Sato said.

All teams are now leaving Spain for but a brief run back to the factory. The next official session takes place in Spain again, at the Valencia circuit, as of next Tuesday.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 1:23.55 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:23.59 3. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:23.69 4. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:24.02 5. Trulli Jordan-Honda (B) 1:24.02 6. Raikkonen Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:24.18 7. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:24.56 8. Manning BAR-Honda (B) 1:24.91 9. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:25.05 10. Button Benetton-Renault (M) 1:25.I8 11. de la Rosa Arrows-AMT (B) 1:25.44 12. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:25.93 13. Burti Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:25.96 14. Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:26.22 15. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:26.40 16. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:27.40 Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams-Renault, 1997) Testing Record: 1:22.630 (David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes, 2000) All Timing Unofficial