Estoril test - day one: 7 February.

Arrows new boy Enrique Bernoldi topped the times on the opening day of testing in Portugal, beating team-mate Jos Verstappen in the process.

The Brazilian, taking part in his first full test since completing his deal with the Leafield team in the middle of last week, clocked a best time some 1.5secs quicker than anyone else present, with Prost's Jean Alesi narrowly taking second spot from Verstappen and Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella.

Intermittent rain punctuated the day, and prevented any meaningful running taking place for the three teams present, but Bernoldi made the most of a break in the weather to set his time late in the day. The Brazilian was also aided by the fact that he was the only driver running a proven package, driving the older A21 against three 2001-spec cars.

A constructive day for the Arrows team allowed both drivers to play with wet-weather settings, although Verstappen was also mindful of the fact that reliability tests were also necessary on the new A22, which had a disappointing debut at Silverstone last week. The Dutchman completed 40 laps with no reported problems.

Alesi, meanwhile, completed 60 laps, with a best time just under a tenth quicker than Verstappen or Fisichella, again without too many troubles on the AP04-Ferrari.

Fisichella was giving the new Benetton B201 its first outing since the car was officially launched in Venice on Tuesday and completed 67 laps of the rebuilt Estoril venue. His run ended when the Renault engine installed in the car reached its life mileage, but the team was nevertheless pleased with the day's work.

"We are very pleased with today's running," technical director Mike Gascoyne allowed, "We have made progress each day that we have run the new car, and we are on target with the development programme, so things are looking positive."

The test continues today [Thursday] and into next week.

Leading performances (7 February):

Enrique Bernoldi Arrows-AMT 1min 22.997secs 59 lapsJean Alesi Prost-Ferrari 1min 24.484secs 60 laps*Jos Verstappen Arrows-AMT 1min 24.568secs 40 laps*Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Renault 1min 24.585secs 67 laps*

[*denotes 2001 car; Arrows on Bridgestone tyres, rest on Michelins]