Marc was once again the fastest driver of the several teams present. He would complete thirty eight laps and set a a fastest time of 1m:10.527. Hs time was over a second quicker than Jenson Button in the Renault.

Gene's test programme would see him firstly use Juan Pablo Montoya's qualifying engine in the morning. This was an attempt to try and find out what had caused the misfiring that had caused Juan Pablo to use his spare car. Having Marc run with this engine allowed the BMW technicians to try and determine the reason behind this fault. In the afternoon Marc would have a new engine installed and then tested different car settings and tyres.

Ralf Schumacher’s day of testing was spent focusing on preparation for the next Grand Prix at Monaco. His FW24 was fitted with several new components and several setups were tried. With all the changes required on his car Ralf only completed fifty eight laps. Ralf's time of 1m:12.651 was good enough for fourth.

For the Renault team Button also carried out testing of various set-ups for Monaco and tested new tyres and aerodynamic developments. He completed sixty one. His only problem was an engine failure in the morning.

Button was joined by Renault F1 test driver Fernando Alonso, who completed fifty eight laps. Alonso tested new developments of the teams traction control system. He ended up four tenths of a second behind Button.

BAR's Olivier Panis ended the day in fifth but he was more than two seconds slower than Spaniard Marc Gene. Saturday will see both the WilliamsF1 and Renault teams conducting tyre evaluation on an artificially wet circuit, on behalf of Michelin.

Tim Newton, WilliamsF1 Test Team Manager, was pleased with the fact that the team has been able to get through their test schedule. He said: “We managed a full program today working on the car set-up for Monaco. The sunshine helped keep the test team in good spirits on the penultimate day in Spain. Tomorrow we conclude the week with a simulated wet tyre test for Michelin.”

Driver Team/Engine Times Laps

Marc Gene WilliamsF1 BMW 1:11.027 21/27
Jenson Button Renault 1:11.548 24/46
Fernando Alonso Renault 1:11.952 29/60
Ralf Schumacher WilliamsF1 BMW 1:12.651 11/56
Olivier Panis BAR Honda 1:12.858 37/54