Day 2 - wet, wet, wet at Silverstone 29 Apr 2004
Poor weather limits running at British Grand Prix circuit
Williams were the only team to complete significant mileage on Wednesday, as constant rain disrupted the second day of testing at Silverstone. Ralf Schumacher topped the times from Marc Gene.
Both Williams drivers ran just over 50 laps as they used the inclement conditions to focus on wet-weather set-ups and testing rain tyres for Michelin, as well as carrying out some systems checks ahead of the next round of the season in Barcelona.
Renault’s Jarno Trulli set the day’s third quickest time, on his one and only timed lap. The team’s official test driver, Franck Montagny, was also in action, but the Frenchman spent the day practising starts and did not set a time.
"The rain finally arrived in Silverstone today, and we have completed very little mileage,” confirmed Christian Silk, Renault’s Chief Test Engineer. “After an evaluation run, we concluded that we would learn little from running today and did not want to endanger parts unnecessarily. We hope that conditions will improve tomorrow."
At McLaren, Kimi Raikkonen joined David Coulthard and Alexander Wurz. None of the trio’s lap count got into double figures and it was Raikkonen who finished fastest of the three in the MP4-19, while Wurz did not set a time.
Testing continues at Silverstone on Thursday.
Unofficial Wednesday times from Silverstone:
1. Ralf Schumacher, Williams (Michelin), 1:30.280
2. Marc Gene, Williams, (Michelin), 1:30.989
3. Jarno Trulli, Renault, (Michelin), 1:34.409
4. Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren (Michelin), 1:35.205
5. David Coulthard, McLaren (Michelin), 1:39.519
