There can be only Juan

[Marshal]

OK, bad pun but impressive performance. Michelin look good in the wet too. From Autosport,

Jerez test – Wednesday times (unofficial)

Pos Name Car Time
1 Juan Pablo Montoya (M) Williams-BMW 1m34.787s
2 David Coulthard (B) McLaren-Mercedes 1m34.835s
3 Jenson Button (M) Benetton-Renault/Supertec 1m34.952s
4 Eddie Irvine (M) Jaguar 1m34.998s
5 Ralf Schumacher (M) Williams-BMW 1m35.759s
6 Giancarlo Fisichella (M) Benetton-Renault 1m35.134s
7 Nick Heidfeld (B) Sauber-Petronas 1m35.300s
8 Rubens Barrichello (B) Ferrari 1m35.798s
9 Kimi Raikkonen* (B) Sauber-Petronas 1m36.015s
10 Luciano Burti (M) Jaguar 1m36.166s
11 Olivier Panis (B) BAR-Honda 1m36.299s
12 Marc Gene * (M) Williams-BMW 1m36.993s
13 Darren Manning * (B) BAR-Honda 1m37.529s
14 Alex Wurz * (B) McLaren-Mercedes 1m37.589s
15 Pedro de la Rosa (B) Arrows-AMT 1m37.833s
16 Jarno Trulli (B) Jordan-Honda 1m38.600s
17 Ricardo Zonta (B) Jordan-Honda 1m36.680s

[Liz]

Hey, Ralfie! Got kleenex?

Not bad for a first effort, eh?

[kev]

Also, Nick Heidfeld in a Sauber was faster than a Ferrari, a Mclaren, and a Williams.
Methinks we can not read too much into test times.

[WilliamsBMWF1]

Correct You cannot read too much into testing I remember studying Zanardi's testing times and he was only a few tenths back of Montoya the first time he tested an f1 Williams in Sept 98.Zanardi was always in pre season testing only about 1 or 2 tenths away from Ralf In other words it was very close.Also do you remember Friday in Australia first race of season Zanardi was a respectable 9th Ralf 10th I thought yes safe bet Zanardi was and then look what happened in qual 17th or something multipe stops in the race and finally a crash.Montoya did well but I heard he set this time when the track was damp and the others set theres in wet conditions.I will wait until the grid of Australia and decide how well Montoya has gone.

[Valve Bounce]

Let's be serious Big W, if we all waited till Australia quals, we'd be so strung out we'd beat each other to death. We might as well hypothesise about something, kid each other along, and enjoy this long testing period until fruition comes along. Actually, I was going to suggest Santa Claus might get a test drive at Minardi, but he was unavailable for another 18 days, and then he would probably be too buggered to drive. OK. Your turn to be testy

[WilliamsBMWF1]

OK fair enough I enjoy reading it .

[Peter Mallett]

Just proves the old saying. What a great leveller the rain is.

[Jay]

I don't think you can judge much at all from these tests. Most of the teams are just testing to see how certain components react. Montoya said that he was pushing his heart out on the course. I highly doubt that DC (for example) cared about where he placed on this time sheet.

[Jeanburrasca81]

I already said that test-times are unimportant, especially with the 2000-bolids...so let's stop tp interpret things that don't exist!

[timo]

In fact I think that this testing times are usefull for the teams, if not why they spent time and money to doit. In fact Juan is learning to drive this car and the grooved tyres, and what he shows is that there is no problem with this kind of tyres so this times shows that for the second day driven the car he is not so far away (Dario Franchiti was 2seconds slower than Burti at Silverstone on the Jag).
Juan will continue to impress. Williams need to know now
exactly how fast he can be with the same car that his team mate and thats what they did on Wednesday....

[Liz]

I think it must have woken Ralfie up too as he became quite a bit faster in the next session!

Competition is the name of this game, and while we are not saying that "testing times mean racing order" it is fun to see how they compare and gives us something to talk about besides how long it is until the next race. There is more to competition than certified races. Ask two guys drag-racing down University Avenue.

And to you sourpusses who insist on repeating "Testing Times Mean Nothing," I bet you go to Ninja Turtles movies and yell "They're not real turtles! They're guys in suits!"

[Valve Bounce]

Well, I suppose if a Prost does 75 laps, then we can intrepret that as "Miracles can happen"!!
I think that we can learn a lot from testing as long as we don't compare the times between different teams, and if we read what they are testing.

[Jeanburrasca81]

Really funny Bounce!
The tests are usefull for the teams timo, but they are not too interesting for the times! The team tests new solutions and sees the results in the telemetry, not in the lap-time.

Liz, not testings say nothing, but test-times at that point of the winter!

[SL]

True there can only be Juan, but it should end in Fangio

Could this be part of Bernies big plan ?? Make the new boy look good on first outing.

Sorry to seem cynical but this does seem to be F1 nowdays.

Simon

[Jay]

They're just testing parts. But if you want to believe in the times then Olivier Panis and BAR finished 1st.

[Orange]

Look, so maybe they are just testing parts, and the times don't mean anything, but if BAR is such a crummy team, why doesn't Ron Dennis just say "OK, DC go run a couple of laps and show BAR/Williams etc. who's boss"?? The point is, if the points mean absoloutly nothing, why do they all test together and release the times to the press? I'm not saying that Ollie Panis and Juan Montoya are going to be the front runners next season, but do give a little credit where a little credit is due.

[SL]

Orange,

Ever fancied a game of poker.............
Myself, always last, **** hand, fancy $10000 to see me


Do you show you hand when you think you have a winner ??

Nor does Ron. Call by bluff and so on. If Ron sent a driver out at full blast then all would know where to aim.

Hence Montota looking good (a pair of two's ??) and all the Macca boys bluffing on a full house

Simon

[Liz]

I don't care what they're testing or what it means. I like to see one guy go faster than another one.

Sometimes it "means" that Juan Pablo was faster today than Ralfie. To someone who goes to Jean Claude Van Damme movies to see things blow up, not to learn Life's Great Truths, that is meaning enough.

[Valve Bounce]

Personally, I have always held the view that McLaren were sandbagging during practice, and their tims during practice are no different. However, with three months to go, we might as well hypothesize. No harm done.
Liz, personally I prefer Steven Segal, then Bruce Lee.