Pizzonia Stays on Top at Barcelona - Day One

Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia finished on top of the timesheets on the first day of testing at the Barcelona circuit, where four Formula One teams kicked off their preparation work ahead of the first race of the season in Australia on March 3.

Nearly three months after the final Grand Prix of the 2001 season in Japan, Formula One got back to action on Monday at the Catalan circuit, with Williams, McLaren, Jaguar and British American Racing working on the first of a five-day testing session in Barcelona.

21-year old Pizzonia, who had already tested for Williams last season but who was announced as official test driver at the end of the year, was able to keep his momentum going, and after setting the quickest time in the morning session the young Brazilian was able to stay ahead of his rivals at the wheel of the Michelin-shod FW23. Pizzonia concentrated on testing different tyre compounds from the French manufacturer.

The young driver pipped Austrian Alexander Wurz, who at the wheel of last year's McLaren was only 55 thousands of a second slower than Pizzonia. Wurz finished the day ahead of Scot David Coulthard, who along with the Austrian drove the McLaren for the first time with the Michelin tyres.

The BMW-powered Williams team were the only outfit who used three cars in today's session, with Ralf Schumacher and test driver Marc Gene setting the fourth and fifth quickest times of the day respectively.

Jaguar's Eddie Irvine was sixth quickest today, the Irishman driving an hybrid version of the R2, which was fitted with the R3 rear end. Irvine, who went off the track in the morning, completed a total of 47 laps. Teammate Pedro de la Rosa, using a car with less new parts than Irvine, was slowest after 31 laps.

BAR test driver Anthony Davidson was the quickest of the Bridgestone-shod cars, the Briton driving the 2001-spec car to finish ahead of Frenchman Olivier Panis. The veteran driver, who completed 23 laps, was the only man who drove the 2002 car.

The four teams will be joined on Tuesday by World Champions Ferrari, with Brazilian Luciano Burti getting back into a Formula One car for the first time since his major accident in Belgium in September. Burti drove for Jaguar and Prost last season but has moved to Italy as Ferrari's second test driver.

Four times World Champion Michael Schumacher is not scheduled to test until a session in Valencia in late January.

Renault, Toyota and Ferrari-powered Sauber, with new Brazilian Felipe Massa, will also test in Barcelona from Tuesday with Jordan joining the crowd in Spain from Wednesday.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time 1. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 1:20.033 2. Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:20.088 3. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:20.566 4. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:20.585 5. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:21.137 6. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:21.416 7. Davidson BAR-Honda (B) 1:21.617 8. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 1:21.914 9. De la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:23.319 All Timing Unofficial