Jenson Button smashed the Barcelona lap record in testing today as BAR worked to get back on the pace.

The team is introducing major modifications for the San Marino Grand Prix after its disappointing start to the season.

The changes certainly seemed to work at the Catalunya circuit, where Button’s 1m13.552s lap was 0.2s under the old lap record and 0.7s clear of nearest challenger Jarno Trulli.

Button’s BAR team-mate Takuma Sato was third fastest.

McLaren test driver Alex Wurz lost a little running time to a hydraulic leak but was generally happy and comfortable in the modified MP4-20 chassis that he may race at Imola if Juan Pablo Montoya’s shoulder injury has not healed.

Wurz’s McLaren team-mate Kimi Raikkonen also had a minor technical problem, a slipping clutch in Kimi’s case, but was ninth fastest.

Ferrari worked mainly on Bridgestone tyre testing, with Rubens Barrichello fifth in the 2005 chassis and test driver Luca Badoer seventh in the hybrid F2004 M machine.

It was a difficult day for Renault, with Fernando Alonso suffering an engine problem before going sixth quickest, and Giancarlo Fisichella lucky to escape a violent accident.

Fisichella’s left rear tyre went down as he accelerated through the almost flat-in-fourth turn three right-hander, sending him spinning heavily into the barriers.

The damaged Renault briefly caught fire, but Fisi was unhurt.

Williams, Red Bull and Sauber were also present at Barcelona.

Felipe Massa replaced Jacques Villeneuve in the Sauber but could do little better than his team-mate had managed – setting only the 15th fastest time.

Slowest of all was BAR test driver Enrique Bernoldi, who only had a few laps in Sato’s car after the Japanese driver had completed his scheduled programme.

Testing continues on Friday.


Thursday testing times from Barcelona

1. BUTTON       BAR       1m13.552s
2. TRULLI       Toyota    1m14.231s
3. SATO         BAR       1m14.247s
4. WURZ         McLaren   1m14.391s
5. BARRICHELLO  Ferrari   1m14.645s
6. ALONSO       Renault   1m14.670s
7. BADOER       Ferrari   1m14.761s
8. ZONTA        Toyota    1m14.826s
9. RAIKKONEN    McLaren   1m14.929s
10. HEIDFELD    Williams  1m14.932s
11. COULTHARD   Red Bull  1m14.957s
12. FISICHELLA  Renault   1m15.018s
13. PIZZONIA    Williams  1m15.141s
14. WEBBER      Williams  1m16.050s
15. MASSA       Sauber    1m16.942s
16. BERNOLDI    BAR       1m17.243s