Webber sets the pace

Mark Webber again set the pace at Jerez today on the third day of testing since the winter ban ended.

The Australian set a best lap of one minute 16.505 seconds to top the timesheets for Williams for the second day running.

Antonio Pizzonia’s latest attempts to convince Williams to hand him a race drive next season saw him clock the sixth fastest time, over a second down on Webber.

Yesterday, Pizzonia’s sole rival for the seat, Nick Heidfeld, was closer to Webber, although testing times are notoriously difficult to interpret.

The McLaren pair of Kimi Raikkonen and tester Alex Wurz made their first testing appearances of the year and did so in style, ending the day second and third respectively.

Test driver Franck Montagny was fourth for Renault, just faster than Briton’s Jenson Button, whose BAR colleague Anthony Davidson was seventh.