McNish makes splash

Allan McNish clocked the fifth-fastest time on a rain-hit day in Barcelona as Toyota announced their arrival in the Formula One paddock.

Toyota makes its F1 debut this season and in the team's first test session of the year the Scotsman exploited a dry morning to register a lap time of one minute 26.108 seconds before rain fell.

His fellow Scot, David Coulthard, led the way in a McLaren, over five seconds in front, with Ralf Schumacher's Williams second fastest and Pedro de la Rosa's Jaguar third. Britain's Anthony Davidson comfortably out-paced his more experienced BAR team-mate Olivier Panis – in the 2002 car – to record the fourth fastest time of the day.

Kimi Raikkonen got his first taste of a McLaren-Mercedes and in his only dry lap of the day was over seven seconds off the pace. Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli marked Renault's return as a constructor with the 15th and 12th fastest times respectively, although the Englishman was unable to hit the track before the rain fell.

Luciano Burti, Ferrari's new test driver, got behind the wheel of an F1 car for the first time since suffering head injuries in an accident at the Belgian Grand Prix last year, and was delighted after registering the ninth fastest time.

"It was a great feeling driving again after what happened last year," he said, adding, "and it is fantastic to be part of a team like Ferrari, driving a world championship winning car, the F2001."