De la Rosa fastest at Barcelona test

Only three drivers were on track at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya yesterday but the action heated up on Wednesday. 13 drivers from eight teams were at work on April 6th and McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa topped the timed with a 1:14.393. His fellow tester Alex Wurz was also on duty and was fourth quickest.

Pedro de la Rosa.

Photo by xpb.cc.

McLaren's programme for its three day test is performance runs, aerodynamics and brakes. Wurz drove the MP4-20 while de la Rosa carried out work in the MP4-19B. Kimi Raikkonen will be at work over the next two days.

Toyota test driver Ricardo Zonta was second fastest, a tenth down on de la Rosa, and the team's second tester Olivier Panis was 12th overall. Fernando Alonso was the quicker of the two Renaults on track in third, while Giancarlo Fisichella clocked seventh on the time sheet despite a few mechanical problems. Both worked on preparations for Imola.

Williams also had two cars at work, Nick Heidfeld in fifth leading tester Antonio Pizzonia in sixth. Both worked on tyres and set up. Anthony Davidson was the lead BAR with eighth quickest and Jenson Button was 10th. They carried out set up work, aerodynamic evaluations and tyre testing.

The BAR pair were split by the Ferrari of test driver Marc Gen?. The Spaniard was behind the wheel of the F2004M and worked on tyre development. Luca Badoer and Rubens Barrichello join the test tomorrow.

David Coulthard was the sole Red Bull on duty and was 11th, while Jacques Villeneuve's Sauber rounded off the times in 13th. Sauber's focus for the week is tyres and aerodynamics.