Heidfeld hits the front at Monza.

Nick Heidfeld set the pace for BMW Sauber on the second day of Formula One testing at Monza, posting the quickest time of the week in the process.

The German set a fastest lap of 1min 22.621secs from his 89 laps on day two of the three day test as he concentrated on set-up work for the upcoming Italian Grand Prix, trying out a series of different aerodynamic solutions on the car in a low downforce configuration. Heidfeld will hand the car over to team-mate Robert Kubica for the final day of running.

Heidfeld was followed on the timesheets by Williams' Nico Rosberg, who was one of the busiest drivers on track as he completed 100 laps on his second day of running. Continuing to work on set-up for the Italian race, he completed his two days of testing without any mechanical issues and ended the day just over two-tenths of a second behind Heidfeld's benchmark time. Heikki Kovalainen ran through a similar programme focusing on the Monza race and was third quickest for McLaren.

Toro Rosso were one of two teams to give both drivers time on track, with Sebastian Vettel running during the morning and setting the fourth quickest time. The young German focused on car set-up for Monza and did comparison runs on the two compounds of Bridgestone tyres that will be available for the weekend and his best lap was only a fraction of a second better than day one pace-setter Felipe Massa who slotted into fifth for Ferrari.

He continued to work on the Monza aerodynamic package on the F2008 and on set-up and was able to get another 86 laps under his belt.

"We are putting a lot of effort into finding the right settings on the car for this track," he said. "On top of that, we are obviously paying careful attention to reliability and the way the car behaves over the Monza kerbs, an aspect of the package that saw us in difficulty last year. I think we are working well, even if we will only have the first real confirmation of this after qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix."

Fernando Alonso took over from team-mate Nelson Piquet at Renault and was sixth quickest ahead of Adrian Sutil, who was an encouraging seventh for Force India. He continued the work carried out by Tonio Liuzzi on day one as he evaluated set-ups on the VJM01, while the team also took the chance to try out a number of development parts on the rear suspension of the car.

"Today was quite a good day," he said. "I felt comfortable in the car and we could do a lot of laps and found some items that will help us move forward and prepare for the race here. We had some work to do to find a good set-up that works over the kerbs and in the slow corners without losing time on braking or on the straights, and also trying to get a good setup with the inertia dampers. We made some good steps forward that will also help us at next week's Belgian Grand Prix, so I am happy and feel quite prepared for these coming races."

Mark Webber rounded out the top eight for Red Bull as he completed his programme for the weekend at the wheel of the RB4. The Australian spent his morning working on the aerodynamics of the car before switching his focus to set-up during the afternoon as he completed a trouble free day and took the Renault engine in his car to its maximum permissible mileage.

"These have been a couple of useful days, preparing not just for the Italian Grand Prix, but also the other races, starting with Spa," he reflected. "The team, including the Renault crew did a good job and we got through a lot of work. In terms of data, I'd say the first day produced more useful information than today, but overall a good test and I'm now looking forward to Belgium."

Jarno Trulli, on his second and final day of running for Toyota, slotted into ninth place as the Italian continued the work started on Wednesday for his home event, with his main focus being on aerodynamic set-up, braking and ensuring the car was well balanced and set-up right to ride the Monza kerbs. Sebastien Bourdais then rounded out the top ten following his afternoon of running the Toro Rosso, although he only completed two runs on track to get used to the Monza set-up with the engine in the car due to reach its distance limit before the end of the day.

That left Honda pairing Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button to bring up the rear as, like Vettel and Bourdais at Toro Rosso, they shared driving duties in the lone car in action.

Barrichello continued his work from the first day of the test as he began the session with a race start simulation exercise before focusing on aerodynamic and tyre evaluations for the forthcoming Italian Grand Prix. Button then took over the car for the afternoon session and continued the aero programme with an evaluation of the different downforce options available for the Monza race weekend.

Testing continues tomorrow.