Webber Breaks Silverstone Record - Final Day

Australian Mark Webber broke the unofficial record of the Silverstone circuit on Thursday, the third and final day of testing at the British track.

Webber, who replaced Jaguar Austrian teammate Christian Klien at the wheel of the Cosworth-powered car today, posted a quickest lap of 1:17.638, the best time posted at Silverstone's Grand Prix circuit so far.

Briton Jenson Button also lapped the British track in less than 78 seconds with the BAR 006, finishing over two tenths of a second behind Webber.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was third with the only Ferrari on track after World Champion Michael Schumacher completed his work yesterday. Barrichello, again focusing on tyre work, covered 90 laps with the F2004 car and finished ahead of Colombian Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen completed a productive session which saw him covering a total of 103 laps as he worked again with the revised MP4-19B car which made its debut on Tuesday. The Finn was fifth fastest ahead of both Renault drivers Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso.

"Our week at Silverstone concluded with a very productive session today," said Renault's Christian Silk, chief test engineer. "Our reliability this week has been exemplary, and that has allowed us to run as much as possible in the conditions and to learn a lot.

"We reached the necessary mileage on the engine evolution to be used at the next two races, made good progress with tyre development and advanced in our understanding of the car. Both drivers did a great job after completing two back-to-back races, and they have earned a little rest before they leave for Canada."

Toyota's Cristiano da Matta and Antonio Pizzonia in the second Williams were eighth and ninth quickest respectively, outpacing the Jordan duo of Giorgio Pantano and Nick Heidfeld.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:17.638 116 2. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:17.862 108 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:18.041 90 4. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:18.124 85 5. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:18.208 103 6. Trulli Renault (M) 1:18.260 69 7. Alonso Renault (M) 1:18.281 99 8. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:18.540 98 9. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 1:19.264 14 10. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 1:19.651 44 11. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:20.935 71 All Timing Unofficial

Visit Atlas F1's Testing Center for further information