Prost tackles unreliability

Though the car performed well at the Brazilian Grand Prix, neither Jean Alesi or Nick Heidfeld made the finish.

At Silverstone the team tried new mechanical and aerodynamic set ups, which showed some improvements.

But on Thursday, a new spec Peugeot powerplant - set to be introduced at next week's San Marino GP - suffered a water leak and more of the electronic problems that have beset the team this year.

Alesi was eventually able to record 34 laps - the same amount as he had achieved the previous day - with a best time of 1m28.062s.

Sporting director John Walton said: "We have not yet found solutions to all the reliability problems and obviously we are not satisfied with the extent of development work we have done at this test.

"But we know that we are going in the right direction," he added, "and everyone is very committed to continue to work as hard as ever in our team effort."