Testing, day 1: Story of five drivers

At Valencia in Spain Renault test driver Fernando Alonso set the pace ahead of Marc Gene's Williams and Nick Heidfeld's Sauber.

Pizzonia did most of his running at the Italian track in the morning, completing just four laps in the afternoon as his car underwent a scheduled BMW engine change. His only problem was an electrical glitch that brought him to a halt just 500 metres after starting his first run at 0900.

McNish only lapped in the afternoon when the track was much slower, as is often the case at Monza. "Today is about low downforce set-up work," said the Scot. "The car seems to fly over the kerbs and never lands. I can't attack as much as I'd like to.

"It was better than it was earlier in the season, but there is still work to do."

Alonso completed 67 laps at Valencia. Following an engine change at lunchtime he carried out tyre development work for Michelin in the afternoon. Tomorrow he will work on a development programme for next year's car.

Antonio Pizzonia Williams-BMW M 1m23.577s 59
Allan McNish Toyota M 1m26.922s 38

Fernando Alonso Renault M 1m13.117s
Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m14.552s
Nick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas B 1m14.577s

M=Michelin
B=Bridgestone