Monday January 28th, 2002

The Williams team dominated on Monday the eighth day of testing at the Barcelona circuit, with their three drivers finishing on top of the timesheets.

Ralf Schumacher was the fastest of the Williams trio, the German driver working at the wheel of the new FW24 chassis which was unveiled last Friday at the Silverstone circuit. Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya was second quickest driving the 2001-spec FW23 chassis, with Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia behind the Colombian with the second of last year's machines.

The BAR team were back in action today at Barcelona as the Brackley-based squad concentrated on putting more miles on the new 004 chassis. Frenchman Olivier Panis and Briton Anthony Davidson were both on duty, concentrating on set-up work.

"We seem to have made some further improvements to the car and in general the day has been good," said Panis. "We need to make sure we continue in this direction for the rest of the test because I continue to feel very positive about the new chassis and the work Honda are doing to get us ready for the start of the season."

Panis, who was at the wheel of the new chassis, was the quickest of the two, while Davidson, who survived a spin in the morning session, posted the fifth quickest time driving last year's Honda-powered 003. Briton Eddie Irvine continued working for the Jaguar team with the new R3, setting the sixth quickest time in front of the first of the Renaults.

The French team, who unveiled their R202 car on Sunday, saw their new machine running for the first time today with Jenson Button at the wheel. Italian Jarno Trulli, however, was the fastest of the two with last year's car, while Button finished down in ninth.

For the first time this year, the Toyota team tested with two cars on track, with Finn Mika Salo setting the eighth fastest time ahead of Button and Scot Allan McNish, who drove the second TF102 from the Japanese squad.

"Having two cars at this test means that we can double the work load and increase our progress rate," said Salo. "For this first day we have had very good weather, which has also had a positive effect. We have carried on working on our new aerodynamic parts and making some comparisons and so far I am quite happy."

Testing at Barcelona resumes on Tuesday.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine     Tyres  Time     Laps   
 1.  R.Schumacher  Williams-BMW     (M)   1:19.280  53
 2.  Montoya       Williams-BMW     (M)   1:19.373  73
 3.  Pizzonia      Williams-BMW     (M)   1:19.383  79
 4.  Panis         BAR-Honda        (B)   1:19.915  61
 5.  Davidson      BAR-Honda        (B)   1:19.929  78
 6.  Irvine        Jaguar-Cosworth  (M)   1:20.477  64
 7.  Trulli        Renault          (M)   1:20.495  47
 8.  Salo          Toyota           (M)   1:20.782  58
 9.  Button        Renault          (M)   1:21.089  48
10.  McNish        Toyota           (M)   1:21.271  77

All Timing Unofficial

Published at 17:31:33 GMT