Active test day at Silverstone

It was an active test day here, June 18, at Silverstone in the UK, with five teams and eight drivers taking part in mostly breezy and overcast but humid conditions. Ferrari had both race drivers, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello, in F2300-GA chassis' and test driver Felipe Massa in the F2002. Schumacher and Barrichello worked on set up and tyres while Massa only ran Bridgestone tyre tests -- all three complete with strange tyres attachments on the chassis on occasion.

Barrichello set the best time of the day, a 1:20.721 according to Ferrari, and he and Massa both caused the session to be closed briefly on two separate occasions. Barrichello had a morning gremlin that saw the Ferrari return to the pits on a flatbed truck, while Massa's car was pushed into the pits in the afternoon session. From the clean condition of the cars, it appears mechanical problems were to blame rather than accidents. Schumacher was third fastest and Massa seventh.

Antonio Pizzonia was second quickest and the sole Jaguar on track. Mark Webber appeared in the paddock this afternoon but he won't take to the wheel until tomorrow. Pizzonia completed his two day stint with a 1:21.277 over 65 laps, working on car balance and set up.

Nick Heidfeld continued Sauber's test programme and despite bringing the session to a halt twice, managed to set the fourth best time. The German first ground to a halt at the side of the track at the Priory corner and at the end of the day, in a separate incident, the Sauber returned to the pits on the back of a truck. Where Heidfeld went off was unseen but the tyres had collected a fair bit of grass. Aside from these excursions, the team ran aerodynamic and suspension tests and Bridgestone tyre work.

Juan Pablo Montoya was the sole Williams on duty and was fifth fastest. The Colombian also halted the session with a breakdown and the car was bought back to the pits on the truck -- much to the amusement of the Ferrari mechanics next door, who hung over the screens in front of their garage and laughed. Montoya was testing a new BMW engine specification and Michelin tyres.

"Our test programme continued at Silverstone today with Juan Pablo completing endurance runs for a new engine spec sign off," said chief operations engineer Sam Michael. "During the session we also tested several different tyre compounds and casings as well as running set up options for the Grand Prix here in a month's time. We've managed to complete a solid number of laps whilst clocking some respectable times so we are pretty happy with the progress we've made today."

BAR had both race drivers on duty, Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve having a very busy day between them and finishing sixth and eighth respectively. Button was testing aerodynamic parts while Villeneuve suffered technical problems that hampered his running.