Valencia test, day 2: New McLaren flies…
The formula 1 winter testing mill ground on at Valencia today (Sunday) with McLaren's Mika Hakkinen once again setting a blistering pace at the top of the time sheets in the Woking team's 2001 challenger
Hakkinen set the fastest time yesterday, but went one better by dipping into the 1m13s bracket at the end of today's morning session. With temperatures at a very warm 21 degrees, the Finn came very close to eclipsing the track's fastest time of the winter - set by Hakkinen himself three weeks ago in a 2000-spec car.
McLaren tester Alex Wurz took second place in the interim MP4-15K and finished the day more than half a second behind his double world champion team mate. The Austrian completed 32 laps in the 2000 car fitted with this year's engine and gearbox, but brought out the red flags by stopping on the circuit with mechanical problems.
Arrows team mates Jos Verstappen and new boy Enrique Bernoldi swapped cars today, giving the young Brazilian, who replaced Pedro de la Rosa, his first stint behind the wheel of this year's car from the Leafield-based team.
Although Verstappen finished the day ahead of Bernoldi, the former Sauber test-driver put on an impressive show and outpaced the Jaguar pairing of Eddie Irvine and Luciano Burti, both of whom were driving 2001 spec R2s. Burti finished marginally ahead of Irvine, who only completed 26 laps.
The teams continue testing tomorrow and are joined by both Jordan and Sauber.
Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes B 1m13.87s 29
Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes (2000 car) B 1m14.43s 32
Jos Verstappen Arrows-AMT (2000 car) B 1m15.35s 44
Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-AMT B 1m15.63s 17
Luciano Burti Jaguar M 1m16.22s 52
Eddie Irvine Jaguar M 1m16.30s 26
M - Michelin
B - Bridgestone
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