Tuesday April 16th, 2002

Frenchman Jean Alesi was back behind the wheel of a Formula One car for the second time this year, as the McLaren team began their preparations for the Spanish Grand Prix testing at the Mugello circuit in Italy, the Woking-based squad working alongside rookies Toyota.

37-year old Alesi, who had tested for McLaren back in March after retiring from Formula One racing at the end of last season, drove an MP4-17 for 78 laps to finish more than half a second behind the team's official test driver Alexander Wurz.

The Toyota team worked with both their drivers Mika Salo and Allan McNish, the Finn being more than a second quicker than his teammate despite suffering an engine failure that hampered his progress with the team's TF102.

"It was a very productive day today with plenty of running," said Salo. "I worked only on aerodynamics, testing different parts and looking for confirmation of the car's set-up. We got some positive results from this, but unfortunately I had to stop the session slightly early after my engine gave way."

Scot McNish set the slowest time of the session, but despite that, the 32-year old was delighted to be driving at the Italian circuit.

"We did a lot of laps today, helped by the dry conditions," added McNish. "I concentrated my testing purely on the mechanical aspects of the car, trying a various number of combinations to improve the mechanical grip, which was quite successful. Mugello is certainly one of my favourite tracks and is fantastic to drive."

Testing at Mugello will continue on Wednesday.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine         Tyres  Time     Laps
 1.  Wurz          McLaren-Mercedes    (M)    1:23.288  92
 2.  Alesi         McLaren-Mercedes    (M)    1:23.968  78
 3.  Salo          Toyota              (M)    1:25.453  58
 4.  McNish        Toyota              (M)    1:26.807  66

All Timing Unofficial