Barcelona test - day one: 25 April.

Six of Formula One's eleven teams were in action at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya today [Tuesday], preparing for the Spanish Grand Prix in ten days' time.

Jos Verstappen came out on top, as Arrows attempted to erase the painful memory of its early demise at Silverstone on Sunday. The Dutchman clocked a 1min 22.57secs lap to edge out second-placed Olivier Panis by three-tenths of a second on a day thankfully devoid of the rain which afflicted the British GP last weekend.

The Dutchman drove the test car fitted with new electronic components and software, but suffered an early spin which left the car stuck in a gravel trap. Although there was no bodywork damage, the team lost one-and-a-half hours of running while a damaged alternator drive belt was changed, after gravel entered the engine bay. Once his car was restored to health, Verstappen began a tyre test program for Bridgestone, comparing soft and hard compounds in preparation for next week's grand prix, completing 44 laps in the process.

Sauber's Pedro Diniz had been fastest of all in the session when Verstappen spun off, but dropped behind both the Dutchman and Panis' McLaren by the end of the day. Nevertheless, the team was pleased to have completed in excess of a race distance, as it attempted to gather data on full-tank handling characteristics.

Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth fastest for Benetton, working through a programme of set-up and suspension changes. Team-mate Alex Wurz proved to be slowest of all, however, after suffering an oil leak, a spin and continuing hydraulic problems. Between the two came Jaguar's Luciano Burti and Eddie Irvine, separated by the lone Prost of Nick Heidfeld.

Testing continues for the next three days.

Leading performances (25 April):

Jos Verstappen Arrows-Supertec 1min 22.57secs 44 laps
Olivier Panis McLaren-Mercedes 1min 22.87secs 40 laps
Pedro Diniz Sauber-Petronas 1min 23.00secs 64 laps
Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1min 23.36secs 33 laps
Luciano Burti Jaguar-Cosworth 1min 23.56secs 30 laps
Nick Heidfeld Prost-Peugeot 1min 23.71secs 32 laps
Eddie Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth 1min 23.91secs 37 laps
Alex Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1min 24.08secs 11 laps