Silverstone test, day 2: Hakkinen again
Mika Hakkinen upped the ante on the second and final day of Formula 1 testing at Silverstone by taking almost two and a half seconds off his fastest time of Tuesday to jump back to the top of the timesheets
In much warmer conditions, Hakkinen lapped the Northamptonshire circuit in 1m21.758s, which although quickest of the day (Wednesday) was still 1.3s shy of Michael Schumacher's pole time from the British Grand Prix.
On a day of little incident, much attention centred on an interesting device, which had sprouted from the rear wing of Hakkinen's McLaren-Mercedes. Speculation had the add-on, which was attached on both sides of the car directly behind the rear wheels, as an aerodynamic aid, a camera holder or even a safety device.
In the event, it turned out to be nothing more than extra sensors for telemetry information, which had been made to be as aerodynamic as possible so as to not affect the results.
The pecking order stayed the same as yesterday (Tuesday) with Eddie Irvine finishing in second place, albeit almost a second behind Hakkinen. The Ulsterman completed rear suspension work for the Jaguar team as well as tyre development using different Michelin compounds ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
McLaren tester Alex Wurz finished in third place with Pedro de la Rosa winding up fourth in the second Jaguar. The Spaniard also completed suspension work, while Big Cat test driver Andre Lotterer, who was seventh fastest, completed his 2002 electronic systems work in the third R2.
Jos Verstappen and Enrique Bernoldi continued to pound round for the Arrows team and swapped places form yesterday with Verstappen in fifth, just two tenths ahead of the young Brazilian in sixth.
Teams had to restrict running to only two days in order to make way for preparations for the Coys Historic Festival at Silverstone this weekend.
Mika Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes B, 1m21.758s, 56 laps
Eddie Irvine, Jaguar M, 1m22.502s, 55 laps
Alex Wurz, McLaren-Mercedes B, 1m23.490s, 40 laps
Pedro de la Rosa, Jaguar M, 1m24.384s, 39 laps
Jos Verstappen, Arrows-AMT B, 1m25.328s, 40 laps
Enrique Bernoldi, Arrows-AMT B, 1m25.579s, 35 laps
Andre Lotterer, Jaguar M, 1m26.497s, 37
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