Valencia, day 7: Williams one-two

The Colombian led team-mate Ralf Schumacher by almost a second, and his record-breaking performance was witnessed by team bosses Frank Williams and Patrick Head, who had flown in to pay their respects to the Williams mechanics, some of whom have been on the road since the start of the year.

Olivier Panis improved on Jacques Villeneuve's best from the previous day, but the Frenchman was 1.6s off Montoya's pace. He also suffered his fifth engine failure of the week. Villeneuve was fourth quickest, but a broken gearbox ended his running just before lunch. The former champion waited to see how long it would take for it to be changed, but left the track as the afternoon wore on.

The team eventually repaired the car and test driver Anthony Davidson was given his first taste of the 004. The Englishman completed just a handful of laps, but that was enough to convince him that it is some way better that last year's car. Ryo Fukuda drove the 003 once more, twice bringing out the red flags when he spun on track, although he didn't damage the car.


Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW M 1m10.977s 57
Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW M 1m11.787s 68
Olivier Panis BAR-Honda B 1m12.606s 80
Jacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda B 1m13.037s 50
Ryo Fukuda BAR-Honda* B 1m14.180s 43
Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda B 1m15.266s 7

B=Bridgestone
M=Michelin
*denotes 2001 car