Antonio Pizzonia set a blistering pace at Monza today, posting the fastest time of the year and outpacing his closest rival, Belgian GP winner Kimi Raikkonen, by 0.784s.

Once again, conditions were cool and a little misty when testing got underway at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza this morning. However, the mist eventually gave way to blue skies and bright sunshine, with temperatures reaching 30 degrees C.

Between them, WilliamsF1 drivers Pizzonia and Juan Pablo Montoya completed 135 laps of the legendary Italian track without any problems. Juan Pablo completed a race simulation in addition to a number of practice starts, while Antonio concentrated on tyre tests for next weekend's Italian Grand Prix. Both drivers also carried out a number of aerodynamic tests.

Following his performance in Belgium last weekend, today's performance should prove to a number of team bosses - including his present employers - that he is seriously worth considering for a drive in 2005.

McLaren had Raikkonen and David Coulthard on duty, the Belgian GP winner finishing second quickest while his Scottish teammate finished tenth.

As previously reported, there were problems for Ferrari, with Michael Schumacher crashing heavily at the end of the pit straight. The German had an endurance run on his schedule, in addition to trying various set-ups, however the accident brought the team's day to a premature end. Rubens Barrichello worked on tyre testing, set-ups and new aerodynamic components.

BAR had three drivers on duty, with Jenson Button joining Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato. The Brackley trio finished third, fourth and fifth quickest - covered by 0.104s - with Davidson having the edge over his teammates. Unfortunately, it wasn't all plain sailing for Davidson, who stopped out on track twice. Both Button and Sato were running the latest spec Honda power-plant.

Fernando Alonso was the quicker of the two Renault drivers on duty, the Spaniard's completing the most laps (116) on his way to posting the eighth fastest time of the day. Both drivers continued with set-up work ahead of the next weekend's Grand Prix, and both were generally happy with the handling of the R24. Jarno experienced an off-track excursion early in the afternoon which saw him sustain minor damage to the chassis. This meant he completed just four laps during the afternoon.

During the morning, Jarno ran a Monza-specification engine to full mileage without any incidents. The Italian also completed his tyre work during the morning session, while Fernando worked on tyres all day, conducting short, performance evaluation runs in the morning and longer runs focusing on consistency in the afternoon.

"We lost half a day with Jarno's car and while this means we have not completed as much running as we would have liked, it has not significantly hampered our work," admitted chief test engineer, Christian Silk. "Fernando completed an impressive number of laps and overall we progressed well with the tyre choice for next weekend. The car has been both reliable and competitive, which we hope to maintain on our final day tomorrow."

Giancarlo Fisichella completed 96 laps in the Sauber C23, the Italian posting the eleventh fastest time of the day. "We basically spent the day with working on our low downforce level for the Grand Prix next week," said Giampaolo Dall'Ara, "and were also able to make a decision on brakes and Bridgestone tyre specification for the Monza race.

"Thanks to good weather and track conditions," he continued, "Giancarlo was able to run a lot of laps which helped us to proceed with our programme as scheduled. Tomorrow Felipe will take over to get a solid feeling of what Bridgestone tyres, brakes and car set-up we will have for Monza, and will furthermore start to evaluate tyres for the Chinese Grand Prix." Felipe Massa takes over testing duties for the Swiss outfit tomorrow.

Christian Klien once again out-paced Jaguar teammate Mark Webber, both drivers focussing on set ups and tyre evaluation.

Languishing at the bottom end of the timesheets, with the Jordans and Minardis, were Toyota's Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta, the Brazilian taking over from Ryan Briscoe.

Timo Glock ended the day seventeenth fastest, 3.9s off the pace, ahead of Zsolt Baumgartner who out-paced his Minardi teammate, Gianmaria Bruni, by a full second.

Times