The McLaren duo of Pedro de la Rosa and Alexander Wurz were on dominant form at Valencia today, as the final pre-season test got underway.

The Woking pair were separated by just 0.030s, but left world champion Michael Schumacher 2.3s adrift.

Between them, de la Rosa and Wurz, both at the wheels of MP4-19Bs with 2005 downforce levels, completed 232 laps as they concentrated on tyre evaluations.

"We completed another constructive session today in Valencia in the interim cars," said Pedro de la Rosa. "This test is of course the final session before we race for the first time in Australia in 12 days time, and we spent the day simulating all the running that will take place on the Friday of a Grand Prix, obtaining some useful results."

"We have put in a significant number of miles today," added Alex Wurz, "although we are using the MP4-19B's we are continuing to test hard to take advantage of all track time before the Australian Grand Prix. We have a good set of data from today and are looking forward to building on it tomorrow."

Schumacher was joined by Rubens Barrichello, both drivers running F2004 Ms. The day's programme focussed on tyre testing and, for Schumacher, endurance running. This is a critical week for both Ferrari and Bridgestone, but the Japanese tyre manufacturer remains confident, despite a serious lack of test miles in comparison to its French rival.

Splitting the two red cars was Mark Webber in the WilliamsF1 FW27, the only 2005 car on duty. Worryingly, for the Grove outfit, the car remains off the pace, the Australian finishing 2.49s down on de la Rosa.

"Mark spent the morning concentrating on set-up work while in the afternoon he carried out some tyre testing for Michelin," said test team manager Tim Newton. "Despite strong winds, Mark managed to complete 81 laps. He will be joined by Nick Heidfeld tomorrow."

BAR and Toyota join the test tomorrow (Tuesday), with Takuma Sato and Olivier Panis scheduled to drive.

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