Luca Badoer’s Ferrari topped the timesheets at Barcelona on Wednesday, but Jenson Button, piloting a BAR prototype with a new chassis and engine, was merely a tenth slower than the Italian.
Luca Badoer’s Ferrari was the quickest on the second day of testing at Barcelona, but Jenson Button, piloting a BAR prototype fitted with a new chassis and engine, set a time that was only 0,149 seconds slower than the Italian test driver’s best lap.
The Briton, who had struggled with technical glitches on his car on Tuesday, completed 84 laps. Sauber-bound Felipe Massa set the third fastest time in his Ferrari, ahead of Takuma Sato’s 2003-spec BAR.
Ferrari’s third driver, Luciano Burti, was fifth quickest, ahead of new Sauber signing Giancarlo Fisichella, who conducted aerodynamic, brake and tyre tests for the Austrian team.
Meanwhile, Williams-BMW continued to set the pace on the second day of the Valencia test session. Ralf Schumacher was marginally faster than team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya on the day.
The Renault would have felt encouraged by Jarno Trulli’s performance – the Italian, who evaluated brakes, tyres and engine settings for the French team, was less than a tenth of a second slower than the Williams pair.
McLaren-Mercedes’ Alex Wurz, in the 2003-spec MP4-17D, and David Coulthard, in the all-new MP4-19, were fourth and fifth quickest. The MP4-19’s speed improved on Wednesday and the Scot set a 1:11,069 lap compared to Tuesday’s 1:12,035 time.
French test pilot Franck Montagny completed the top six for Renault, acclimatising to the car and working on aerodynamics. He was slightly quicker than Jaguar’s Mark Webber.
Marc Gene was running the new 2004 engine in the third Williams-BMW, but he only completed 20 laps.
The Spaniard split Webber from Jaguar candidate Christian Klien. The young Austrian driver got a second day at the wheel of the Jaguar and completed 86 laps, with a best time very similar to the mark he set on Tuesday.