Tuesday May 28th, 2002

Only 48 hours after the Monaco Grand Prix, nine Formula One teams got back to work to begin their preparations for the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit next week.

A rainy day at the Silverstone circuit saw the progress of the thirteen drivers present being hampered, but Italian Giancarlo Fisichella managed the conditions to set the fastest time of the session with the Honda-powered, Bridgestone-shod Jordan EJ12.

The Italian driver, who in Monaco finished in fifth place for the second consecutive race, was nearly a whole second quicker than his closest rival Andre Lotterer, the young German impressing at the wheel of the Cosworth-powered Jaguar R3.

It was the first time that the test driver got behind the wheel of this year's car, and he lapped more than two seconds quicker than Eddie Irvine with the second car from the Milton Keynes team. Ferrari's test driver Luca Badoer was third quickest with the F2002, the Italian concentrating on set-up work.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who suffered his sixth consecutive retirement of the season in Monaco, was fourth fastest with the first of the McLarens, outpacing Austrian test driver Alexander Wurz in the second of the MP4-17 chassis with which David Coulthard won Sunday's race.

Brazilian Felipe Massa was fifth quickest with the Sauber, the Brazilian returning to the cockpit following his heavy shunt at the Monte Carlo circuit.

"It was good to be back in the cockpit so soon after Monaco, but irritating that the running I did was interrupted frequently by red flags as several people spun," said Massa. "The track was still wet so I ran on intermediate tires all through, and I became one of the spinners when I pushed a little bit too hard on my last lap without damaging the car."

The British American Racing team were present with only one car, driven by test driver Anthony Davidson, who finished as eighth quickest ahead of Australian Ryan Briscoe in the first of the Toyotas.

"It was a very good day," said Briscoe. "The track was wet or damp through the day, but we got some good work done on traction control and also on mechanical set-up. Throughout the day we continually improved things, which was positive and the car felt generally very good to drive."

The Japanese squad worked also with Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin, the test driver finishing at the bottom of the timesheets behind the two Williams of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya.

"Today we have been working on differential mappings and traction control," Sarrazin said. "Because the track was wet we were unable to carry out the planned aerodynamics test for Canada. Unfortunately I had a spin towards the end of the session. I do not know how it happened, but it resulted in some damage to the car."

Renault's Jarno Trulli was tenth quickest with the only R202 present at the British circuit, the Italian's team hoping for a better day tomorrow.

"Unfortunately poor weather conditions hampered testing today," said Renault's technical director Mike Gascoyne. "Jarno worked on evaluating the wet weather tyres together with Michelin. During the afternoon Jarno then focused on the revised traction control system of his R202."

Testing at Silverstone continues on Wednesday.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine         Tyres  Time     Laps
 1.  Fisichella    Jordan-Honda        (B)    1:31.607  43
 2.  Lotterer      Jaguar-Cosworth     (M)    1:32.558  19
 3.  Badoer        Ferrari             (B)    1:33.437  78
 4.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes    (M)    1:34.186  40
 5.  Massa         Sauber-Petronas     (B)    1:34.981  16
 6.  Wurz          McLaren-Mercedes    (M)    1:34.994  22
 7.  Irvine        Jaguar-Cosworth     (M)    1:35.128  61
 8.  Davidson      BAR-Honda           (B)    1:35.565  37
 9.  Briscoe       Toyota              (M)    1:36.903  48
10.  Trulli        Renault             (M)    1:36.976  35
11.  R.Schumacher  Williams-BMW        (M)    1:37.323  31
12.  Montoya       Williams-BMW        (M)    1:38.309  30
13.  Sarrazin      Toyota              (M)    1:38.965  38

All Timing Unofficial