Rubens Barrichello set fast time in Tuesday's testing besting the likes of Felippe Masa, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.  However, Alonso was back on top on Wednesday and Barrichello was not in the top five.  Still is it possible Honda might actually be competitive this weekend?  It sure would be a welcoming sight.

Honda’s Rubens Barrichello led the way in Barcelona on Tuesday, as testing continued at the Circuit de Catalunya. Running Bridgestone’s experimental slick tyres, Barrichello was close to a second faster than Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella, also on slicks.  The Brazilian covered 79 laps during the course of the day, as he focused on evaluating development parts for the RA108.

“I tested the new 2009 slick tyres here today (Tuesday) - which was the reason for my fastest lap - but we were also much quicker on the 2008 grooved rubber too,” he explained.  “The best lap we did here in February was a 1min 22.3s and now we are at 1min 20.7s, so we're really moving forward.”

Renault’s Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets as this week’s multi-team test at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya continued on Wednesday. Alonso’s best, a 1m 18.483s lap, was set on Bridgestone’s 2009 slick tyres and put the Spaniard almost a second ahead of former sparring partner Michael Schumacher, who returned to the cockpit for Ferrari.

“The day has been good and I was happy with the developments to the car,” Alonso said. “But we still need to keep improving because it seems that our competitors have also improved and so it is still difficult to say how we really compare with them. We have to wait until next week to get a full picture of where we stand. It was fun to try the slick tyres, which gave very good grip.”

Schumacher, meanwhile, took charge of Ferrari’s test programme for the day.

Barrichello was sixth on Wednesday.

Though Rubens did not mention it, his Honda is sporting a radical new front wing this weekend.

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