Jacques Villeneuve tested the new FW 19 on the circuit and immediately broke the record set by Olivier Panis yesterday. The Canadian drove 72 laps with a best time of 1m 18.84s.

Villeneuve commented: "We are pleased with the first day of proper testing and the car was quick and produced plenty of grip. The steering was a bit heavy and I was sliding about a bit in the car and so there is some work to do on the seat."

The Williams team was the only one there most part of the day since Ligier left early in the afternoon.

The Williams team have just one car ready. Heinz-Harald Frentzen drove just a couple of laps in the afternoon without really setting a time.

Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine completed a shake down test before the cars are flown to Estoril (Portugal). Schumacher clocked a fastest time of 1m 00.45s (22 laps). Irvine tried out his new car for the first time and was faster than his team-mate: a 1m 00.08s (21 laps). The Ferrari team also practised a number of pitstops.