Wurz fastest in practice

Alex Wurz, driving the McLaren MP4-20 for the first time at a desert circuit he had never before been around, lapped in one minute 30.695 seconds.

That time in the afternoon session was a hefty 1.274 seconds quicker than the Renault of Formula One championship leader Fernando Alonso.

Seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, second quickest in the morning session on the competitive debut of the new Ferrari F2005, was fifth fastest and 1.736 seconds off the McLaren third driver's pace in the afternoon.

Worryingly for Ferrari, who have rushed their new car into service after a poor start to the season with the old F2004, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was sidelined for the entire second session with a gearbox problem.

Wurz's time was a bittersweet success for the lanky Austrian, who will not race tomorrow despite being the official reserve.

He had been unable to fit into the car until McLaren pulled out all the stops to modify it following an injury to Juan Pablo Montoya at the weekend.

Montoya is absent from Bahrain and has been replaced by Pedro de la Rosa, who has been testing the MP4-20 while Wurz has had to make do with last year's car.

De la Rosa was fourth quickest in the afternoon with a time of one minute 32.333 seconds, behind Red Bull's Italian test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.

McLaren and Renault both looked highly competitive after an inconclusive first session with both Alonso and Italian team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella spending most of their time in the garages.

Renault, winners of the first two races of the season, limited their morning running to preserve tyres on a dusty track.

Ferrari have a proud record stretching back six years of winning on their new car's debut but Schumacher, victorious in the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix last year, and Barrichello look to have their work cut out this time.

The German, winner of 13 of 2004's 18 races, had been 0.671 of a second slower than Toyota's Brazilian test driver Ricardo Zonta in the morning.

Zonta's time was the second fastest of the day, although comparisons between the sessions meant little given changing track conditions and temperatures.

Ferrari, winners of the last six constructors' championships, are fourth in the championship with 10 points from two races.

Schumacher has just two points on the board and Ferrari, way off the pace in Malaysia, decided last week to introduce the F2005 two races earlier than planned.