Barcelona test - day four: 11 July.

McLaren became the third different team to head the four day Barcelona group test, as Alex Wurz gave the Woking team something to cheer with fastest time in the final session of the week.

The Austrian headed Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer, as the leading Williams-BMW of Ralf Schumacher was pushed back to third spot. David Coulthard backed up Wurz's performance by claiming fourth best time.

11 Jul 2003

McLaren became the third different team to head the four day Barcelona group test, as Alex Wurz gave the Woking team something to cheer with fastest time in the final session of the week.

Wurz's top spot came as some relief to the lanky Austrian, who had spent two days all but confined to the pit as the new MP4-18 refused to run cleanly enough for him to record a timed lap. On day four, however, he moved from bottom to top, clocking up 58 laps and a target time of 1min 17.616secs - the quickest of the week-long test. It was not all plain sailing for Wurz, however, as the car's unreliability caused him to cur short one of the day's two sessions, restricting its lap time once again.

Badoer, who returned to action in Barcelona having started the test for Ferrari before handing over to Rubens Barrichello for two days, was a massive seven-tenths adrift of the McLaren by the end of the day as he completed the Scuderia's programme of parts development ahead of the next three championship rounds. The Italian covered a session-high 110 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya before the team packed up and headed for home.

Schumacher, who had set the pace on day two before giving best to Barrichello yesterday, had to be content with third place in the final session. The German finished off the team's tyre evaluation for Silverstone and Hockenheim, completing 76 laps.

David Coulthard took fourth spot with the venerable MP4-17D McLaren enjoying a cleaner run than he had had with the new model to rack up 84 laps as he prepared to continue his fightback against team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and the two Williams-BMWs on home soil at Silverstone.

The final day of testing for Renault saw test driver Allan McNish completing another 93 laps as he performed a final validation of tyre choices for the three summer races covered by the voluntary amnesty. The Scot also concentrated on the set-up of new rear suspension components, although another engine problem cost him some time in this task.

Olivier Panis completed Toyota Racing's four-day outing by finalising preparations and tyre choice for the Silverstone grand prix and continued to evaluate new aerodynamic, mechanical and engine developments for the rest of the season, comprising elements such as front and rear wings, floor and engine cover.

Kimi Raikkonen moved over from the MP4-17D to the new McLaren for the final day of the test, but completed just 28 laps as the car's run of unreliability struck again.

Jacques Villeneuve headed the three BAR-Honda 005s on hand in Spain, but languished behind Raikkonen. The Canadian, along with team-mates Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson - who returned to replace Jenson Button - worked on assessment programmes for the forthcoming races, recording times over a second off the pace.

Marc Gene separated Villeneuve and Sato after completing another 73 laps in the cockpit of the second Williams-BMW, and also ended the day ahead of Antonio Pizzonia, who replaced Mark Webber for the third day of Jaguar's test. The Brazilian covered his set-up preferences for Silverstone as he worked down to a 1min 19.876secs best.

Bringing up the rear on only his second proper test outing with Sauber was Swiss FRenault V6 hopeful Neel Jani. The Swiss driver stepped into the car vacated by Nick Heidfeld overnight and worked on the team's aerodynamic programme. He had said that he hoped to get within two seconds of Heidfeld's best time from Thursday but, by the time he had got the car sorted and found his way around the circuit, temperatures had risen to the point where the track was slower than it had been.

Leading performances - Barcelona (11 July):

Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes 1min 17.616secs 58 lapsLuca Badoer Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 18.316secs 110 laps*Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1min 18.402secs 76 lapsDavid Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1min 18.678secs 84 lapsAllan McNish Renault-Renault 1min 18.753secs 93 lapsOlivier Panis Toyota-Toyota 1min 18.775secs 85 lapsKimi Raikk?nen McLaren-Mercedes 1min 19.005secs 29 lapsJacques Villeneuve BAR-Honda 1min 19.011secs 70 lapsMarc Gene Williams-BMW 1min 19.417secs 73 lapsTakuma Sato BAR-Honda 1min 19.716secs 69 laps*Antonio Pizzonia Jaguar-Cosworth 1min 19.876secs 92 lapsAnthony Davidson BAR-Honda 1min 20.434secs 97 laps*Neel Jani Sauber-Petronas 1min 21.955secs 49 laps*