Speed Shines in Barcelona Test

Speed, the 2004 Formula Renault Eurocup champion, is making his Formula One debut this week and the young American had a promising start, finishing on top of the timesheets with a best time of 1:16.122 after 39 laps at the wheel of the 2004 car.

Speed had already tested the car on Wednesday.

"The car  is  definitely  the  most  powerful  car  I've  ever  driven," said Speed. "This  test  all  went  smoothly  with  no dramas.  My first impression was Wow. The braking  power particularly impressed me.

"I really enjoyed myself and it was very productive, as the 68 laps I completed have qualified me for a Superlicence and I've now learnt a track that I will be racing on later in the year. I found all the data analysis side fascinating and felt fine at the end of the test, having trained real hard for this."

The American worked alongside Swiss driver Neel Jani, who was nearly two seconds off Speed's pace after 51 laps. Both are part of Red Bull's junior team and are competing in the GP2 series that has replaced Formula 3000 at Grand Prix weekends.

With Austrian Christian Klien not guaranteed his racing seat for the San Marino Grand Prix, Red Bull could be looking for someone to drive the third car on Fridays. Klien is not eligible for the role and the team's current third driver Vitantonio Liuzzi is widely expected to replace him alongside David Coulthard.

German driver Nick Heidfeld was second quickest for Williams after 120 laps, while the team's test driver Antonio Pizzonia also covered over 100 laps on his way to the third fastest time in the second FW27.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine         Tyres  Time     Laps
 1.  Speed         Red Bull-Cosworth    (M)  1:16.122   39
 2.  Heidfeld      Williams-BMW         (M)  1:16.674  120
 3.  Pizzonia      Williams-BMW         (M)  1:17.160  111
 4.  Jani          Red Bull-Cosworth    (M)  1:18.037   51

All Timing Unofficial