Ralf again fastest on final day at Barcelona

The final day of the Barcelona test would see Ralf Schumacher complete his day with the fastest time. The team would use this test in preparation for next weekends Brazilian Grand Prix. The day would see wet weather conditions early on, which gave the team the opportunity to further test their Michelin rain tyres, but it would clear in the afternoon.

Ralf would set a best lap time of 1m:17.590, which was seven tenth faster than McLaren's David Coulthard, who finished second with a time of 1m:18.249. Third was Toyota's Olivier Panis, with a lap of 1m:18.686. Ralf would complete fifty four laps.

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher ranked fifth, 1m:19.045, with his modified F2002. For WilliamsF1 test driver Marc Gené he would finish fourth with a best lap of 1m:18.731. Marc would complete 109 laps, which equals a race simulation.

With the four days of testing completed the team is now preparing for the trip to Brazil. The last four days have been very productive which has given the team confidence that they will perform well at the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos next weekend.

Sam Michael, WilliamsF1 Chief Operations Engineer, spoke of the four days of testing: "A four day test has come to a close during which the team had all three drivers on hand. We tested many aero, mechanical, engine and tyre components and made significant progress. Most of these parts we will be taking to the next GP in Brazil. Juan and Ralf shared the aero and mechanical test items while Marc spent four days testing tyres and engine developments during a race simulation. It was a good test from a reliability point of view and we covered a lot of miles."

Dr Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director, added these comments: "From the BMW perspective the Barcelona test was a successful one. Apart from supporting tyre testing and the development programme for the FW25 chassis, we have tested further improvements on the engine with regards to Sao Paulo and completed a race simulation without any problems."

Pos Driver Team Engine Tyres Time Laps
1. R. Schumacher WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:17.591 53
2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:18.258 61
3. Panis Toyota (M) 1:18.687 63
4. Gene WilliamsF1 BMW (M) 1:18.728 108
5. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:19.051 40
6. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:19.793 65
7. de la Rosa McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:20.417 75
8. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:20.818 36