With the track closed in the morning for a Peugeot publicity film, the Formula One cars did not begin testing until 2pm on Thursday, still under warm and sunny skies in near perfect conditions. Mika Hakkinen set the quickest time of the day at 1:22.01 secs for McLaren, but plans for he and David Coulthard to carry out a simulated race run and practice pit stops were cut short when both cars stopped shortly after their pit stops. Mika Hakkinen returned to the pits with a suspected engine problem, while a few laps later David had to be towed back to the garage with a transmission problem, his best time a 1:22.93 secs.

Frentzen makes progress

"I found a very good set up for the car yesterday, things are looking a lot better," said Heinz-Harald Frentzen after setting a second best time of 1:22.81 secs during 40 laps of running. Unfortunately he did not have a chance to try for an even quicker lap at the end of the day after his car was sidelined with a gearbox problem. Damon Hill completed 41 laps and made several long runs and worked on the chassis set-up, his best time of the day a 1:23.47 secs with no problems to report.

Diniz fifth for Sauber

Following Jean Alesi's impressive 1:21.7 secs for Sauber on Wednesday shortly before returning home , Pedro Diniz took over the car for the rest of the week and set a best of 1:24.47 secs at the end of the day which saw him run 21 laps without any problems.

Panis tests the Prost

Olivier Panis took over the Prost testing on Thursday, the team watched over by Alain Prost and John Barnard making his first visit to a track this year. I have been flat out producing the parts for the new cars," said Barnard , who put down the rear wing failures on Wednesday as a heat and material problem which he reckons should not occur again. Panis completed 28 laps for the afternoon with a best 1:24.52 secs.

TEST TIMES BARCELONA 18-02-99

1. Mika Hakkinen      McLaren-Mercedes MP4/14  1:22.01 secs
2. H.H. Frentzen      Jordan-Mugen Honda 199   1:22.81 secs
3. David Coulthard    McLaren-Mercedes MP4/14  1:22.93 secs
4. Damon Hill         Jordan-Mugen Honda 199   1:23.47 secs
5. Pedro Diniz        Sauber-Petronas          1:24.47 secs
6. Olivier Panis      Prost-Peugeot AP02       1:24.52 secs