Ralf Still Ahead at Barcelona - Day Three

The Williams-BMW team continued to show the speed of their new FW26 car by topping the times for the second straight day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.

German Ralf Schumacher once more outpaced Colombian teammate Juan Pablo Montoya and the Grove-based squad secured the top two positions in today's session.

After debuting their new car yesterday, the Renault F1 team continued putting the R24 car through its paces, with Italian Jarno Trulli doing the driving. Meanwhile, Spaniard Fernando Alonso was again at the wheel of the R23B, which includes electronic components from the new R24.

Alonso, like he did yesterday, was the quickest of the non-Williams drivers, finishing less than a tenth of a second behind Schumacher. Trulli, meanwhile, completed a solid 69 laps with the R24 but wound up only tenth fastest today.

"It was another encouraging day for the team," said Renault's Pat Symonds. "Jarno's running was interrupted with a technical problem, but we nevertheless clocked up a further 320km, including some longer runs. The indications remain very good, and the car is running well with a high fuel load, displaying good consistency."

Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was fourth quickest with the F2003-GA, as the Italian squad concentrated on tyre testing as well as electronics and engine work. The team's test driver Luca Badoer was sixth.

The BAR-Honda team had their two racing drivers in action, with Briton Jenson Button taking over from test driver Anthony Davidson as the Brackley-based outfit continued working with an hybrid version of last year's 005 chassis. Button worked alongside Japanese Takuma Sato, who finished near the bottom of the times while the Briton was fifth fastest.

Finland's Nico Rosberg, the son of former World Champion Keke, returned to the wheel of a Formula One car today, testing for the Williams team again. The 18-year old, who had made his F1 debut at the end of last year, worked with last season's FW25 chassis, covering a total of 79 laps on his way to a respectable seventh fastest time of the day.

Brazilian Felipe Massa was again the only Sauber driver on track, once again at the wheel of the new C23 chassis unveiled last week.

"Thanks to a better understanding of the car I could do a lot more runs and we could work much more on the set-up of the C23," said Massa. "Unfortunately we couldn't do our Bridgestone work so well. There were a lot of traffic and stops, but this is normal when so many teams are testing on the same day. Nevertheless I can say that the car is more reliable now."

Toyota also worked with their 2004 car, with Brazilian Cristiano da Matta finishing as ninth fastest.

The Jordan Grand Prix team had another poor day and, after German Timo Glock caused heavy damaged to the EJ13 on Tuesday, it was Belgian Bas Leinders who today crashed with the Ford-powered car.

The 28-year old went off the track after just six corners and tore the front left wheel off the car. Leinders was able to get back on track after his mechanics fixed the damage, but he could only complete 17 laps and finished more than six seconds off the pace.

Testing will continue tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:15.620 64 2. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:15.659 45 3. Alonso Renault (M) 1:15.718 101 4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:16.026 67 5. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:16.621 87 6. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:16.951 77 7. Rosberg Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.469 79 8. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:17.539 89 9. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:17.696 79 10. Trulli Renault (M) 1:17.785 69 11 Zonta Toyota (M) 1:17.895 55 12. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.087 55 13. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:18.507 79 14. Leinders Jordan-Ford (B) 1:21.631 17 All Timing Unofficial

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