MARCH 20, 2001

Ferrari beat McLaren, again

MCLAREN once again lost out to Ferrari on Tuesday, this time on the test-track as Ferrari test-driver Luca Badoer beat his McLaren counterpart Alexander Wurz to top the times at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.

Wurz had topped the times for most of the day in last year's McLaren, but after seeing Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello dominate the field in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, Badoer produced a late surge to post the fastest time.

"My program centered on electronics," said Badoer. "But we also worked on other areas.

"I watched the race in Sepang on television. It was very exciting and while it's true we had a bit of luck it has to be said that we are going better than all the others."

Johnny Herbert was third fastest as he tested for the Arrows team, while Benetton test-driver Mark Webber was fourth quickest and Williams test-driver Marc Gene was sixth on a relatively trouble-free day.

British American Racing were hoping to test at the circuit on Tuesday, but their cars were held up in transit from Malaysia.

The BAR team are expected to test on Wednesday, along with Jordan, Jaguar and Prost, who will join the other teams.