McLaren Mercedes’ David Coulthard humiliated his opposition by smashing the Barcelona lap record on Thursday.
McLaren Mercedes’ David Coulthard humiliated his opposition by smashing the Barcelona lap record on Thursday.
On the third day of testing at the Spanish grand prix circuit, the Scot turned in a searing lap of 1m15,674s – a full 1,7s faster than the next car, the Williams BMW of Colombian arch-rival Juan Pablo Montoya.
Brazilian rookie Antonio Pizzonia was third quickest for Jaguar. Using the team’s 2002-spec engine, Pizzonia did endurance testing for the Milton Keynes-based squad, but his fastest lap was a mere tenth slower than Montoya’s best effort.
Toyota’s Olivier Panis was fourth followed by Ralf Schumacher in the other Williams BMW and McLaren’s test driver, Gary Paffett.
Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, was in action for BAR. The Canadian driver completed 74 laps of the Spanish track and finished in eighth place, but his best lap more than three seconds off Coulthard’s pace.
BAR test driver Anthony Davidson ran into problems with his BAR 004 and only managed five laps. However, he still finished ahead of Renault’s Fernando Alonso.
Ferrari and Sauber will return next week for the final test of the year on the Spanish track, reported.
Thursday’s times from Barcelona
1. David Coulthard – McLaren – 1:15,674 – 67 laps
2. Juan Pablo Montoya – Williams – 1:17,372 – 86 laps
3. Antonio Pizzonia – Jaguar – 1:17,481 – 101 laps
4. Olivier Panis – Toyota – 1:17,609 – 64 laps
5. Ralf Schumacher – Williams – 1:18,065 – 76 laps
6. Gary Paffett – McLaren – 1:18,236 – 63 laps
7. Marc Gene – Williams – 1:18,400 – 54 laps
8. Jacques Villeneuve – BAR – 1:18,905 – 74 laps
9. Mark Webber – Jaguar – 1:18,924 – 73 laps
10. Anthony Davidson – BAR – 1:19,675 – 5 laps
11. Fernando Alonso – Renault – 1:19,860 – 69 laps
12. Ralf Firman – BAR – 1:21,056 – 46 laps
13 Tiago Monteiro – Renault – 1:21,471 – 56 laps