Williams Barcelona test notes 2004-01-21

On the third day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya continued to set the pace.

Once again the session began in bright sunshine, with temperatures rising from 6 degrees to a balmy 17 degrees later in the day.

For the second successive day, Ralf established a new lap record for the revised circuit, lapping the Spanish track in 1:15.630. The German worked on mechanical and aerodynamic set ups of the FW26 and completed 70 laps without experiencing any problems.

Juan Pablo, running the second FW26, carried out traction control tests before performing a number of simulated race starts in the afternoon. The Colombian completed 52 laps, posting a fastest lap time just 0.041 seconds slower than his team-mate.

Joining the two regular BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers was Nico Rosberg who ran the 2003 spec FW25A. The German youngster completed a test programme which was aimed at helping him to familiarise himself with the Formula One car. Nico completed 84 laps, posting a best time of 1:17.468.

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"Today Juan Pablo and Ralf continued running in the FW26s. Juan continued tyre compound testing and evaluating different mechanical set ups while Ralf spent the day evaluating different mechanical set ups and traction control. Nico Rosberg drove the FW25A today, spending the whole day testing different mechanical and aero set ups."

Ralf and Juan Pablo continue testing tomorrow, with Marc Gené taking over from Nico who will be back on duty on Friday.

-williams-