Valencia day 1: Montoya tops times

The Williams driver improved to move ahead of morning pacesetter, McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen, setting a fastest lap of 1m13.336s.

Alex Wurz was third quickest ahead of the impressive Giorgio Pantano, who was enjoying his first run for Williams. The Italian was well over a second quicker than the team's regular test driver Marc Gene, although the Spaniard did fewer laps.

Renault's Jarno Tulli set the sixth fastest time. The French manufacturer had spent the day evaluating their hybrid chassis, which combines the teams 2003 mechanical package with this season's aerodynamic package. Technical director Mike Gascoyne said: "We are quite satisfied with the first day of testing with the interim car. We didn't experience any mechanical problems and we were able to complete our programme."


Juan-Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW) 1m13.336s
Alex Wurz (McLaren-Mercedes) 1m13.433s
Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1m13.563s
Giorgio Pantano (Williams-BMW) 1m14.615s
Nick Heidfeld (Sauber-Petronas) 1m14.789s
Jarno Trulli (Renault) 1m15.390s
Marc Gene (Williams-BMW) 1m16.257s
Franck Motagny (Minardi-European) 1m17.043s
Sergey Zlobin (Minardi-European) 1m21.854s