Back to work on the test track

After the thrills and spills of the back-to-back North American races, track work resumed this week in a more sedate manner. Testing commenced at the Spanish circuits of Jerez and Barcelona on Tuesday with just four drivers in action on the first day.

At Jerez there were three test drivers on duty, McLaren's Alex Wurz topping the times with a 1:18.808. Teammate Pedro de la Rosa was second quickest and both drivers were behind the wheel of a new MP4-19B. Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard are scheduled to join the test later in the week.

Toyota's Ricardo Zonta was the third driver present and over a second off the lead McLaren's pace. Zonta completed the most laps of the day, 77. Williams and BAR are expected to join the track action at Jerez tomorrow.

Ferrari was the sole team at Barcelona, also with its test driver undertaking the duties. Luca Badoer set a best of 1:18.557 and completed 27 laps, working on tyres and development. Jaguar, Sauber and Renault are due at Barcelona tomorrow.