Antonio Pizzonia topped the timesheets on the first day of testing at Paul Ricard yesterday as preparations for the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix got underway.  The Mistral wind buffeted the circuit for much of the day, and though it remained dry throughout, conditions were cool with temperatures reaching a mere 9°C.

Antonio Pizzonia and Marc Gené were on duty for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, both drivers at the wheel of a WilliamsF1 BMW FW26.

The Brazilian worked on set-ups in the morning before switching to tyre construction evaluations in the afternoon. He completed 94 laps of the circuit's 4.157 kilometre 2D, hairpin track solution, on his way to posting the fastest time of the day, 1:11.501.

Marc spent the day evaluating tyre compounds, the Spaniard completing 89 laps and posting a best time of 1:12.060. Testing continues tomorrow with Ralf Schumacher taking over from Marc.

Tim Newton (Test Team Manager, WilliamsF1): “Both Marc and Antonio were working on two new FW26 chassis today. In the morning, both drivers concentrated on chassis and set-up work while in the afternoon we completed a tyre test with Michelin.“ Times   POS. - DRIVER - TEAM - TIME - LAPS   1. A. Pizzonia BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:11.501 94   2. A. Davidson Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda 1:11.728 127   3. T. Sato Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda 1:11.806 115   4. M. Gené BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:12.060 89   5. P. de la Rosa West McLaren Mercedes 1:12.126 67   6. A. Wurz West McLaren Mercedes 1:12.317 98   7. R. Zonta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:12.740 134   8. F. Montagny Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:12.989 113   9. R. Briscoe Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:14.987 23