Thursday April 19th, 2001

Finn driver Mika Hakkinen posted the fastest time for the second consecutive day at the Silverstone circuit, where a three-day session came to an end on Thursday.

On yet another very cold day, the McLaren team dominated the session as they did on Wednesday, with Scot David Coulthard being the second quickest driver today, less than two tenths behind team mate Hakkinen.

Both McLaren drivers tested a new Bridgestone tyre compound, as they continued working on the electronics systems of the Mercedes-powered MP4-16.

Also using the new Bridgestone tyres, BAR-Honda drivers Olivier Panis and Jacques Villeneuve endured a more positive day than on Wednesday, setting the third and fourth quickest times respectively, and edging Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who was fifth.

Poor weather combined with a scheduled engine change reduced the track time for Frentzen, who only completed 20 laps. Several red flags did not help Frentzen's cause either.

Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya continued working for the BMW-Williams team, and the German driver - winner of the San Marino Grand Prix - admitted the Grove-based oufit have some way to go before their traction control system works properly.

"I think the test was reasonable and we went through everything we needed to," said Ralf, who was sixth fastest. "We still have some problems with traction control so there is still a lot of work to be done."

Frenchman Jean Alesi posted th eight quickest time at the wheel of the Michelin-shod Prost AP04, while Jaguar's Eddie Irvine was ninth, in front of Giancarlo Fisichella driving the recalcitrant Benetton B201.

One of the stars of the day at Silverstone was Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa, who was announced as Irvine's team mate for the Spanish Grand Prix following Luciano Burti's move to Prost. De la Rosa set the 11th fastest time today, while Burti completed an installation lap with the Prost but set no time.

Jonathan Cochet, Prost's test driver, was slowest once more, but only half a second behind de la Rosa.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team-Engine         Tyres  Time   
 1.  Hakkinen      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)    1:22.32
 2.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes    (B)    1:22.50
 3.  Panis         BAR-Honda           (B)    1:22.65
 4.  Villeneuve    BAR-Honda           (B)    1:23.37
 5.  Frentzen      Jordan-Honda        (B)    1:23.53
 6.  R.Schumacher  Williams-BMW        (M)    1:23.76
 7.  Montoya       Williams-BMW        (M)    1:24.05
 8.  Alesi         Prost-Acer          (M)    1:24.56
 9.  Irvine        Jaguar-Cosworth     (M)    1:24.57
10.  Fisichella    Benetton-Renault    (M)    1:24.81
11.  de la Rosa    Jaguar-Cosworth     (M)    1:26.01
12.  Cochet        Prost-Acer          (M)    1:26.59
13.  Burti         Prost-Acer          (M)    no time

All Timing Unofficial