Barcelona test - day three: 23 February.

Honda and Renault paced the third day of testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello sandwiching Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso in the top four.

Although cold, conditions remains dry and largely sunny throughout the day, with Button and Barrichello taking full advantage to complete in excess of 200 laps as they put further miles on chassis #02 and #04.

The two drivers' ran differing programmes in each session, with Button conducting a tyre programme alongside an aero evaluation in the morning, and then combining the former with a brake comparison after lunch. Barrichello, meanwhile, continued to work on chassis set-up, followed by an aero programme, before switching his attention to tyre evaluation in the afternoon session.

Renault also completed its own extensive programme without any major problems, with Fisichella carrying out a major set-up evaluation and Alonso covering a race distance in the morning. The world champion continued to show both performance and consistency during the afternoon, when he focused on set-up changes and tried differing aero ideas on the R26.

"We made some good improvements for the first races," Alonso reckoned, "The car is good, well balanced and I think we identified some interesting directions with Michelin for the beginning of the season."

Best of the rest 'honours' on the day fell to McLaren-Mercedes' Juan Montoya, who claimed fifth place overall but was six-tenths off Button's pace. Where the Briton and both Renault drivers had all lapped in the 1min 13.9secs bracket, Montoya's best clocked in at 1min 14.5secs, but the Colombian did complete a mammoth 131 laps, the biggest total of any of the 14 drivers on track.

"We've done a lot of good work this week, despite there being a few problems with the wet weather and a couple of small glitches with the car," JPM reported, "It has also been quite cold here in Barcelona, which means that you aren't getting the full performance, and also everyone is testing different things, so it is difficult to compare the performances of the teams here, but generally it has been a productive week."

Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was sixth fastest, a further second back as he covered 80 laps, focusing on set-up work that had been the main thrust of the three-day development programme.

"I feel that we have improved a lot over the last few weeks, and are continuing to develop the car to find the speed and reliability that we need," the Finn reported, "We are moving in a good direction, and have covered some really good distances this week - but we need to keep pushing as there is still work to be done."

Williams filled positions seven and eleven, with F1 rookie Nico Rosberg this time ahead of Mark Webber. According to technical director Sam Michael, both drivers concentrated on long distance runs, working on set-up, brake and tyre development in race conditions.

Toyota drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were among the trio sandwiched by the Cosworth-powered FW28s, both drivers having loitered with intent inside their garage while allowing the other teams to ensure that the track reached an optimal temperature. The team's focus continued to fall on tyre testing, with both drivers trying to find a conclusive choice ahead of season-opener in Bahrain.

Both Schumacher and Trulli reached the 100-lap mark for the day, and the German took eighth spot despite a small spin early in the day.

"We had a good day's running, and this test is giving me the chance to come to grips with the new car, to understand it better and to adapt my driving style," Schumacher claimed, "So far, I am pleased with the new aerodynamics, but eager to see how things develop before the first race."

Trulli concluded his second day of testing in ninth spot, behind Red Bull's David Coulthard, happy with the reliability of the TF106.

"We were pushing hard today, evaluating the tyre choice for Bahrain, and I am feeling rather confident," the Italian noted, "Of course, we have a few things to work on, but the car is showing that it is reliable, and it would be wonderful to start the season again with good results. That is why we are pushing hard."

Coulthard and RBR team-mate Christian Klien also sat out the early going in order for the track to dry and warm up, but were at least able to start racking up the laps as the RB2's overheating problems continued to abate. The Austrian's programme centred on aero work and tyre testing, while DC concentrated on evaluating other aero items, along with set-up and suspension ideas.

"Christian managed to complete some longer runs, which is what we wanted, as he was using the race-spec engine-gearbox package," revealed chief test engineer Ian Morgan, "Despite a few minor problems, he got through most of his programme, as did David."

Midland and Super Aguri brought up the rear of the timesheets, with Christijan Albers and Takuma Sato respectively 3.2secs and 5.8secs off the pace as they completed 79 and 58 laps.

Leading times (23 February) - Barcelona:

Jenson Button Honda-Honda 1m 13.933s 117 lapsGiancarlo Fisichella Renault-Renault 1m 13.971s 125 lapsFernando Alonso Renault-Renault 1m 13.977s 113 lapsRubens Barrichello Honda-Honda 1m 14.266s 119 lapsJuan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes 1m 14.587s 131 lapsKimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes 1m 15.475s 80 lapsNico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1m 15.775s 84 laps*Ralf Schumacher Toyota-Toyota 1m 15.971s 100 laps*David Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari 1m 16.034s 54 lapsJarno Trulli Toyota-Toyota 1m 16.056s 104 laps*Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1m 16.128s 97 laps*Christian Klien Red Bull-Ferrari 1m 16.921s 55 lapsChristijan Albers Midland-Toyota 1m 17.143s 79 laps*Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1m 19.789s 58 laps*

[* denotes Bridgestone tyres, all others on Michelin]

Weather/track conditions: Cold, sunny and dry