Schumacher breaks Barcelona record

The German's lap of 1:13.471 beat Jenson Button's record of 1:13.552, the Briton's time set early in 2005.

Despite Schumacher's impressive time, the day was one of mixed fortunes for Ferrari following a heavy accident by test driver Luca Badoer.

The Italian driver lost control of his 248 F1 at the fast third turn, going off and crashing heavily against the tyre barriers. The accident forced the session to be stopped.

Badoer was uninjured, but the damage the car sustained on the right side was enough to make sure he was unable to return to action. He managed just 27 laps and finished as 10th fastest.

A total of 17 drivers took to the track today, with only the Midland and Super Aguri teams absent from the Circuit de Catalunya.

Renault's Heikki Kovalainen was second fastest, keeping the French squad near the top of the times. The Finn, however, was over seven tenths of a second behind Schumacher.

Both Kovalainen and teammate Giancarlo Fisichella continued working on narrowing down the tyre selection for the British Grand Prix.

"We had a solid day of testing today in Barcelona," said Renault's chief test engineer Christian Silk. "The cars ran reliably, and we collected plenty of useful data for the next races.

"Tomorrow, we will be putting finishing touches to our preparations for the forthcoming race in Silverstone, where we expect the R26 to maintain its recent competitive form."

Ricard Zonta was third quickest for the Toyota team, the Brazilian returning to the old TF106 car after working with the B version yesterday. Teammate Jarno Trulli took over at the wheel of the new car, posting the sixth quickest time of the day after 102 laps.

Williams' Nico Rosberg began his team's preparations for British Grand Prix, working alongside test driver Alex Wurz.

Rosberg worked on an engine programme in the morning and did tyre testing in the afternoon. Wurz focussed on aerodynamic work, but the Austrian's day ended early after crashing at the ninth corner late in the afternoon.

Apart from the incidents from Badoer and Wurz, there were a further four red flags today. Red Bull's Christian Klien stopped on track around noon, then Honda's Rubens Barrichello followed suit on the first corner, his car dropping oil from the back.

In the afternoon, McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa stopped on the sixth corner and Trulli caused another red flag when his car also stopped late in the afternoon.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  1:13.471   82
 2.  Kovalainen    Renault              (M)  1:14.174  120
 3.  Zonta         Toyota               (B)  1:14.696  106
 4.  Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)  1:14.731   87
 5.  Fisichella    Renault              (M)  1:14.854  112
 6.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  1:15.131  102
 7.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:15.238   84
 8.  Villeneuve    BMW-Sauber           (M)  1:15.526  111
 9.  Button        Honda                (M)  1:15.590  109
10.  Badoer        Ferrari              (B)  1:15.637   27
11.  Montoya       McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  1:15.652   61
12.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)  1:15.783  125
13.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  1:15.826   96
14.  Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:15.871   65
15.  Doornbos      Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  1:17.018  115
16.  Wurz          Williams-Cosworth    (B)  1:17.188   83
17.  Jani          Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  1:17.224   92

All Timing Unofficial