The Stewart Grand Prix team will sign up Rubens Barrichello as their second driver next to Jan Magnussen who was already signed to the team. The Brazilian will sign a two year contract with the team on Friday. Barrichello was driving for Jordan-Peugeot this year and already made it clear that he didn't feel comfortable with Jordan any more.

Japanese veteran Aguri Suzuki drove the Ligier JS41 ('95 type) with Bridgestone tires and clocked a fastest time of 1m 41.8s on Wednesday. His Ligier was running with a low rev. engine for this test.

Japanese young driver Shinji Nakano a Ligier JS43 Mugen-Honda fitted with Goodyear tires. Although he spun twice, he finally marked a 1m 41.6s on Wednesday. This time was faster than Olivier Panis' qualifying time in Japanese Grand Prix last weekend.

French driver Olivier Panis shared Ligier JS43 Mugen-Honda with Nakano on Tuesday. His best time was a 1m 44.3s.

Rosset's Footwork FA17 Hart was painted in Bridgestone colours and Ligier JS43 sponsor logos were removed and added were Mugen-Honda logos. Ligier JS41 Mugen-Honda had been painted in Bridgestone colours and logos.

Drivers best time (unofficial):

 Driver   Car-Engine       Tire   Oct.15(Tue) Oct.16(Wed) JPN-GPQ-time
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 R. Rosset Footwork-Hart     BS    1m 44.7s     1m 41.4s     1m 45.412
 O. Panis  Ligier JS43-Mugen GY    1m 44.3s                  1m 42.206
 S. Nakano Ligier JS43-Mugen GY    1m 44.7s     1m 41.6s
 A. Suzuki Ligier JS41-Mugen BS    1m 41.9s     1m 41.8s

Michael Schumacher's talks with the Ferrari team about extending his contract are postponed until the end of October. Schumacher commented: "There are still a few things to solve, which are not the way I thought they would be."

Allesandro Nannini is reported to have said that the forthcoming tests for the Benetton team will not result in him coming back into Formula One.

The movement he has got in his right arm, which was sown back on after he lost it in a helicopter crash six years ago, is still limited.

Nannini said: "I don't think my body could physically manage to complete the full distance of an F1 race"