Formula One news

Barcelona Day 3: Schumacher fastest as rain hits test

Michael Schumacher set the pace on the third day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona as persistent rain disrupted the entire day's running. The Ferrari driver ran 51 laps, his best in 1m23.764s to finish 1.9s clear of the rest of the field.

Fernando Alonso finished the day second but managed just 40 laps. A suspected problem related to the Renault team's new engine stopped him in the morning, while Rubens Barrichello (3rd) also stopped in the morning with some mechanical problems.

Jenson Button finished the day third after testing only in the morning. He managed 36 laps in the wet conditions before team mate Takuma Sato took over and parked the car in the gravel after five laps. The Japanese driver finished the day thirteenth.

Alex Wurz and David Coulthard continued testing the McLaren Mercedes MP4-19 with Wurz finishing fifth and Coulthard sixth - the pair completed 107 laps between them.

The second Renault R24 of Jarno Trulli managed just 22 laps in the wet conditions as the team continued to test their new engine and an aerodynamic package upgrade. 

Ralf Schumacher finished eighth after a spin in the morning in which he damaged his front wing after colliding with the tyre barriers while IRL champion Scott Dixon finished tenth after some 72 laps in the wet.

Cristiano da Matta took over from Olivier Panis at Toyota where Ricardo Zonta also tested - the pair completing just 42 laps between them - their programme thwarted by the conditions. Behind them Jaguar's Bjorn Wirdheim had a similarly quiet day managing just 16 laps.

Click photo for enlargement

At the bottom of the time sheets however was Marc Gené who ran two in-lap/out-laps with an interesting addition to his rear wing (see photo). The appendage turned a few heads down the pit lane today, and Patrick Head's presence did nothing to quash the rumour mill kicking into full steam about the part, but Williams Chief Operations Engineer Sam Michael told F1Racing.net that it was simply a control box for onboard sensors.

Testing at Barcelona continues tomorrow.

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