Valencia, day 3: Williams still on top

Schumacher's time was set in qualifying trim, but for most of the test he concentrated on evaluating Michelin tyres for next weekend's Monaco Grand Prix. In total he covered 79 laps, approximately a race distance. The sister Williams of Gene was thwarted in its initial attempt to run a race simulation after a oil leak necessitated an engine change mid-morning. However, the car ran without fault later in the day and the Spaniard did 85 laps, setting the third best time.

Sandwiched between the two FW24s in the times was the Jordan of Giancarlo Fisichella. The Italian completed cooling and electronic programmes, and the team now packs up and heads home while the others carry on testing. His best lap was just under a second shy of Schumacher's.

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso were in action for Renault and were fourth and sixth quickest respectively. Button worked on tyres and set-up for Monte Carlo, while Alonso concentrated on electronics. BAR's Olivier Panis had a busy schedule planned but a gearbox breakage early in the morning session limited his running to mainly tyre testing.


Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m10.592s 79
Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Honda B 1m11.406s 48
Marc Gene Williams-BMW M 1m11.411s 85
Jenson Button Renault M 1m11.465s 62
Olivier Panis BAR-Honda B 1m12.448s 54
Fernando Alonso Renault M 1m13.055s 62

M = Michelin
B = Bridgestone