Pizzonia tops first test day at Silverstone

Testing started at the Silverstone circuit in the UK today with three teams and six drivers present. Williams test drivers Antonio Pizzonia and Marc Gené led the small field, first and second fastest respectively. Pizzonia's best of the day was 1:18.291, the Brazilian working on aerodynamics, set up and tyres. Gené, who was a couple of tenths behind, focused on chassis settings and tyres.

Renault had Jarno Trulli and tester Franck Montagny on duty, Trulli third quickest and Montagny rounding off the times. The pair worked on aerodynamics and tyres in two R24 chassis. McLaren was the other team at work, test driver Alex Wurz fourth on the time sheet and David Coulthard fifth. Kimi Raikkonen joins the test tomorrow.

In Italy, Ferrari was in action at two tracks, Sauber's Felipe Massa returning to a Scuderia cockpit at Mugello. The Brazilian completed 72 laps of tyre work, setting a best of 1.19.529. Michael Schumacher takes over tomorrow and Massa will be back in a Sauber at Fiorano on Thursday. At Monza, Ferrari's official tester Luca Badoer ran engine and tyre programmes, racking up 490 kilometres on slightly modified track.

Jordan kicked off its three-day test at Vairano with tester Timo Glock behind the wheel. Sauber was at Fiorano, Giancarlo Fisichello focusing on preparations for Monaco. The Italian worked on aerodynamics and tyres and completed 165 laps with a best time of 57.613.