Silverstone test, day 3: Hakkinen on a roll

Coulthard is equal top in the drivers' standings with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, while Hakkinen is a distant seventh. But the Finn has topped the times on the past two days of testing as he attempts to fight his way back into title contention.

At a slightly warmer (relatively speaking) Silverstone, the top positions were dominated by Bridgestone-shod teams as the Japanese manufacturer introduced a new set of tyres with wider rubber at the front and a softer compound for the rear.

The new tyres were used by Hakkinen and both BAR-Honda drivers, Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve, who finished third and fourth respectively. The tyres could be used at the Spanish Grand Prix in 10 days time, depending on the verdict from Ferrari, which has been testing the same tyre configuration at Mugello this week.

Honda stable mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished the day fifth for Jordan, and was expected to try the wider front tyres, but ran out of time.

The day was interspersed by numerous red flags as teams were plagued with blown and stalled engines as they grappled with last-minute traction control glitches, before the banned driver aid makes a legal return to Formula 1 in Barcelona.

San Marino Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher's BMW V10 expired in dramatic style halfway through the morning session on the entry to Copse corner and proceeded to leave a trail of Castrol's finest all the way up to the Chapel left-hander. The German finished the day in sixth place.

Pedro de la Rosa seized the day's headlines not for his 11th place, but for being confirmed as Eddie Irvine's 2002 team mate at Jaguar following Luciano Burti's sudden move to the Prost team. De la Rosa attempted to test his R2's launch control system and promptly stalled at the back of the circuit while Burti's running with his new team was limited to just two laps due to the large number of red flags.

Coulthard and Jean Alesi, who finished eighth, both had to be towed back to the pits while Eddie Irvine (ninth) and Giancarlo Fisichella (10th) interrupted proceedings twice each by coming to a halt out on the track. Fisichella was forced to resort to a 2000-spec car after his B201 returned to the pits on the back of a truck with oil dripping from its undertray.

Prost's test driver Jonathan Cochet continued to feel his way into his new team after his second day in a Formula 1 car and avoided incident to finish last, but a respectable 2.3s behind Alesi.



Mika Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) B, 1m22.32s 42 laps
David Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) B 1m22.50s 45
Olivier Panis (BAR-Honda) B 1m22.65s 64
Jacques Villeneuve (BAR-Honda) B 1m23.37s 45
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan-Honda) B 1m23.53s 20
Ralf Schumacher (Williams-BMW) M 1m23.76s 18
Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) M 1m24.05s 42
Jean Alesi (Prost-Acer) M 1m24.56s 58
Eddie Irvine (Jaguar) M 1m24.82s 52
Giancarlo Fisichella (Benetton-Renault) M 1m24.81s 47
Pedro de la Rosa (Jaguar) M 1m26.01s 20
Jonathan Cochet (Prost-Acer) M 1m26.59s 22
Luciano Burti (Prost-Acer) M No time 2