Torrential Rain Hampers Paul Ricard Test - Final Day

A heavy rain and very strong winds forced the final day of testing at the Paul Ricard circuit to be canceled earlier than planned.

Only five drivers took to the French track today, but after the conditions got worse and worse, all the teams present decided it was too risky to run and called it a day. Only Williams test driver Antonio Pizzonia and Toyota's Ryan Briscoe managed to set a time today.

"Juan Pablo [Montoya] and Antonio were on testing duty for the team today, with both drivers completing some traction control work and practice starts in preparation for Imola," said Williams' chief operations engineer Sam Michael at the end of the day. "However, strong wind and driving rain forced us to abandon running this afternoon.

"Overall, the test was quite useful as we managed to identify several set-up options for the forthcoming San Marino Grand Prix. We also verified some new directions on tyre compounds and casings with Michelin."

The Toyota team wrapped up their programme today, with both Olivier Panis and test driver Briscoe at the wheel of the TF104 and TF103B cars respectively. Panis, who was scheduled to test new aerodynamic solutions, did not even set a time.

"Thursday was a positive day for us, testing tyres for Imola and Monaco," said Panis. "The wind hampered our efforts and I stopped slightly early with a gearbox problem, but we still put in nearly 100 laps. On Friday we were planning to test some new aerodynamic parts but the wind was gusting up to 65 knots.

"It can be dangerous to drive here in such conditions so it became impossible to do any meaningful work. Our next race is the San Marino Grand Prix. We haven't gone particularly well at Imola in the past, so we have to keep pushing and we will be looking to make the best out of our package there this time."

The Renault and McLaren teams did not even take to the track.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 1:21.358 9 2. Briscoe Toyota (M) 1:27.863 7 3. Panis Toyota (M) no time 4. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) no time 5. Sato BAR-Honda (M) no time All Timing Unofficial

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