Williams and McLaren fastest in testing
Two circuits were the focus of testing on January 19th, with eight drivers from five teams on duty at Barcelona and five drivers from four teams at Valencia. Williams led the way at Barcelona, where Mark Webber topped the times with a 1:16.631. He ...
Two circuits were the focus of testing on January 19th, with eight drivers from five teams on duty at Barcelona and five drivers from four teams at Valencia. Williams led the way at Barcelona, where Mark Webber topped the times with a 1:16.631. He was followed by teammate Nick Heidfeld who was three and a half tenths behind.
The pair worked on traction control and simulated race starts but were hampered by suspension problems on the interim chassis. "The guys at the factory are currently investigating the problem, as soon as they have rectified the situation we will be back on track," said test team manager Tim Newton.
Ferrari's Michael Schumacher was third quickest, just five hundredths behind Heidfeld. He continued work on new components, electronics and tyres and completed 126 laps. Rubens Barrichello will take over tomorrow for Ferrari.
Jarno Trulli was the quicker of the two Toyotas, fourth, while teammate Ralf Schumacher rounded off the times in eighth. Red Bull was the other team on track and had all three drivers present. Vitantonio Liuzzi was the fastest, fifth, followed by David Coulthard and Christian Klien in sixth and seventh respectively. They were separated by three tenths.
At Valencia it was McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya who clocked the best of the day, 1:11.288 for the Colombian. Team test driver Alex Wurz will be on track tomorrow. Franck Montgany was the sole Renault, second quickest, and worked on tyres. Fernando Alonso will be behind the wheel on Thursday for the first time this winter.
Jenson Button and Takuma Sato were third and fifth for BAR and were separated by the Sauber of Jacques Villeneuve. The Canadian worked on set up tyres and completed 92 laps. "I think it was a good and productive day," said race engineer Giampaolo Dall'Ara. "At the beginning it was a bit difficult to get up to pace, but this is normal at the beginning of a new season."
Minardi continued its session at Misano but was again hampered by poor weather. Christijan Albers managed to complete the 21 laps he needed to gain his superlicense, while Nicky Pastorelli had his first run but only did eight laps before the engineers decided the conditions were too bad to continue. Neither driver set a meaningful time.
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