Schumacher Stays on Top at Barcelona - Day Three

World Champions Ferrari were, for the second consecutive day, the dominant force at the Circuit the Catalunya, on the third day of testing this week.

Five-time champion Michael Schumacher outpaced teammate Rubens Barrichello to complete another dominant performance from the Italian squad, who had already topped the times on Monday with Barrichello ahead of Schumacher. The German, carrying out tyre testing for Bridgestone, completed a total of 85 laps at the wheel of the F2002.

Toyota's Olivier Panis was the fastest of the non-Ferrari drivers and also the quickest of the men working with the 2003 car. The veteran Frenchman, who today took over from teammate Cristiano da Matta, continued making progress with the TF103 chassis from the Japanese outfit, although he finished nearly two seconds off the Ferraris' pace.

"It is nice and positive for me to be back in the new car, taking over from Cristiano," said Panis. "He has been through a long list of items over the past two days and the team has found some interesting results. I still have a lot to do, including some tyre testing tomorrow with our partner Michelin, and I will do my best to continue on this positive note.

"But I can already say I am happy with the performance of the car up to now. It is very encouraging, especially knowing that we haven’t run with low fuel levels to make sure we get a real picture of our car potential and of the direction we have to follow."

German Nick Heidfeld carried out testing duties for the Sauber team, who again concentrated on an aerodynamic programme with new components that arrived today. Heidfeld was the busiest man on track today, covering a massive 96 laps with the Petronas-powered C22.

"The gusting wind was annoying at times today, but once again the car was reliable and we got a lot of laps in," said Heidfeld at the end of the session. "As our understanding of the C22 improves, we are continuing to make progress."

The Renault team were again in action with two drivers, with Italian Jarno Trulli again outpacing the team's test driver Allan McNish as both put more miles on the new R23 car. Trulli completed 53 laps and finished as fifth quickest, while McNish was down in eighth.

"It was my first real test with the R23," explained McNish. "I feel at ease and very happy with the chassis balance. We did some long runs on both days which gave me good mileage and good understanding of the car. I'm looking forward to continuing testing in Valencia next week."

Spaniard Marc Gene posted the sixth fastest time of the day with the first of the Williams. The test driver replaced German Ralf Schumacher today and worked with the old FW24, while Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya again failed to impress with the new FW25 chassis, finishing down in 10th position more than three seconds behind Schumacher.

Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia was the only driver in action for the Jaguar team, who continued with the development work of the new R4 chassis. Briton Jenson Button and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve drove the BAR 005 again today, finishing at the bottom of the times.

The session at Barcelona will continue tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:15.465 85 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:15.762 65 3. Panis Toyota (M) 1:17.390 54 4. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:17.480 96 5. Trulli Renault (M) 1:17.560 53 6. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.678 86 7. Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:18.063 40 8. McNish Renault (M) 1:18.445 50 9. Button BAR-Honda (B) 1:18.506 42 10. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.903 43 11. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:19.001 38 All Timing Unofficial

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