Testing winds up at Silverstone

More wet weather hampered testing at Silverstone on Thursday as teams wound up the week's work. Williams led the times for the third consecutive day, test driver Antonio Pizzonia ahead of Ralf Schumacher. Pizzonia's best was 1:32.449, his 28 laps being the most of the day, and both drivers worked mainly on tyres.

"Ralf and Antonio were on testing duty for the team today, with both drivers once again topping the time sheets," said test team manager Tim Newton. "With saturated conditions once again disturbing the running at the Northamptonshire track, Ralf and Antonio continued as best they could with the scheduled programme, concentrating on systems checks, set-ups and tyre exploration work."

McLaren finished its three-day test with three drivers on track, tester Alex Wurz the best of the trio in third fastest. Fellow tester Pedro de la Rosa was fourth and Kimi Raikkonen sixth. De la Rosa completed the most laps for the Woking squad, just 15. Renault had test driver Franck Montagny fifth fastest but Jarno Trulli only ventured out for one lap and didn't set a time.

Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer cut short the team's day at Monza with a crash. After a rain shower the F2004 went off the track at Curva Grande; Badoer was unharmed but the car had be taken back to the Maranello base for repairs. Up to then 26 laps had been completed with a best time of 1:21.626.

At Mugello it was a BAR one-two at the top, Takuma Sato leading Jenson Button. Sato's best was a 1:19.150, Button a few tenths behind, the pair working on tyres and aerodynamics. Sato had a drive shaft failure and the car was repaired but poor weather conditions bought the test to an early close. Tester Anthony Davidson returns to join Button tomorrow, while Sato heads for Silverstone for a shakedown of the race chassis.

The Toyota duo of Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta were third and fourth respectively and Rubens Barrichello took over for Ferrari. The Brazilian continued the tyre test started by Michael Schumacher yesterday and was fifth on the time sheet. A sole Minardi rounded off the times, Gianmaria Bruni working on aerodynamics and revised braking systems after his brake problems in the last race.

Sauber concluded its test week at Fiorano with Felipe Massa behind the wheel. The Brazilian worked on tyres and evaluated brakes and dampers, completing a whopping 167 laps and setting a best time of 57.315. Jordan also concluded its test programme, Timo Glock finishing off at Vairano.