McLaren stay on top

Between Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard the McLaren team headed all three days of the test with Hakkinen and Coulthard setting the fastest two times the first day, Coulthard fastest the second day and Hakkinen fastest overall for the week on Friday with a best of 1:21.71. Both drivers were working on improving the balance of their cars for this balance sensitive circuit, while Mika's handling problems in Monaco were traced to a problem with his car's power steering, which made driving Monaco quickly particularly difficult.

Fastest Wednesday, Hakkinen had and engine problem and trouble with his chassis which saw him run just three laps in the morning. In the afternoon he set the fourth fastest time of the day. With the track at its quickest on Friday, Hakkinen set the fastest time with Coulthard fourth fastest for the day and the week on 1:22.419 secs, slightly quicker than he had managed the previous day.

Ferrari run T-cars in Barcelona

Scuderia Ferrari joined all the Grand Prix teams in Barcelona last week in readiness for next weekend's Spanish GP. Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine were running their two spare cars from Monaco. The first day Irvine and Schumacher were well down the list of quickest times following electronic problems with their gearboxes. Aerodynamic and suspension set-up tests were made difficult by high winds, several red flags and rain showers in the afternoon. Ferrari confirmed that their latest engine development will not be used for the Spanish GP.

On Thursday Schumacher set the fifth fastest time, but lost more time when a spin in the wet during the afternoon saw him damage the crankcase of the engine on the kerb. Eddie Irvine also went off over a kerb which damaged the monocoque too badly for him to continue testing for the rest of the week.

Things went better on Friday, Schumacher completing a solid day's testing in dry conditions with the second best time of the week just one tenth slower than Mika Hakkinen. He stopped early on Friday afternoon having completed the tyre development and test programme that had been laid out.

Jordan third and sixth for the week

Heinz Harald Frentzen and Damon Hill both ran three days testing for the Jordan team. They worked hard on a long problem of comparative tests throughout the week in addition to trying some new gearbox parts. "We were trying to find the best tyre and chassis set-up for the race, but the changing track conditions - particularly the wind - made the job very difficult," said Frentzen. Hill, who ran a low fuel run on Friday, set the third fastest time of the week on 1:22.339.

Frentzen ended up sixth quickest for the week, happy with his time of 1:22.504 set on a high fuel load during several long runs to test tyre-wear for the race. He lost time for minor repairs on Wednesday after a spin at the high speed chicane behind the pits, where the track suddenly rises half way through the corner.

Benetton lose a monocoque

Giancarlo Fisichella and Alex Wurz had planned to run three days each for Benetton, but a trip over the kerbs by the Italian on Thursday saw him continue his chassis set-up programme in Wurz's car, which had been sidelined in the morning with hydraulic problems. Wurz took over the car on Friday after Fisichella had left, the Austrian running a lot of laps in race trim setting the slowest time of the day on 1:24.17, two seconds faster than he had managed the first day.

Fisichella's best time of the week on Thursday was a 1:24.533. The team continued the testing of their FTT braking system at the front of the car, which Wurz does not like but the team think could still be effective on certain circuits despite the weight penalty it presents.

Williams going for quick times

The Williams drivers Alex Zanardi and Ralf Schumacher were going for quick laps in a bid to improve their qualifying performance. Ralf Schumacher, fourth fastest on Wednesday, was third on Thursday and ended up seventh for the week on Friday when other drivers went for quick laps. On Thursday Ralf Schumacher was delayed by engine problems in the morning. Meanwhile, BMW were running another test at Miramas with their engine in the Williams test chassis. Apparently the power is good, but there are still vibration problems to be resolved.

Stewart work for the race

The Stewart drivers Rubens Barrichello and Johnny Herbert worked hard on finding the best race set-up during the week, Herbert setting the best time of the week with a 1:23.421, his teammate's best a 1:23.60.

Arrows test both cars

The Arrows team prepared Pedro de la Rosa for his home race in Barcelona as well as the Japanese driver Tora Takagi who only ran on Wednesday. De la Rosa ran two of the three days setting a best of 1:25.825, Takagi's best of 1:26.53 set on Wednesday. As well as chassis set-ups, the team also ran a new Brian Hart designed cylinder head on their engines which has not yet been raced.

Panis and Trulli drive three days

The Prost team ran lots of laps working on set-ups for the race, Olivier Panis ending up fifth fastest of the week and happy with a best of 1:22.447. Jarno Trulli was eighth for the week with his best time 1:22.787.

New aerodynamics for Sauber

Sauber took a new under-tray to test at Barcelona, but Jean Alesi damaged it after half an hour when he went off over a kerb which kept his car off the track for most of the day. Pedro Diniz had differential trouble the first day and did even fewer laps. Diniz ended up quickest of the two on Friday with their best times of the week 1:22.787 for the Brazilian and 1:23.00 for Alesi.

Minardi run Mezzacane

Minardi ran their test driver Mezzacane for the first time, while regular driver Luca Badoer tested the long chassis version of the car which the team plans to run for the race. His best time was a 1:26.25 on Wednesday, the team not running for the second two days.

Salo continues for BAR

Mika Salo continued to drive the car for the BAR team in Barcelona, leading to speculation over the future of Ricardo Zonta, while test driver Lemarier - who stood in for Jacques Villeneuve in the first day - set the slowest time of the day, at 1:26.87.

Salo was an impressive third fastest on Wednesday and was even quicker on Thursday with the second fastest time of the day. He ran race set-ups on Friday and did not better 1:23.536, compared to his best of 1:22.963 the previous day. Villeneuve set a best of 1:24.458 on Thursday and was a tenth quicker than Salo on the final day, with a best of 1:23.481 in race trim.