The third day of this week's Monza test saw Mark Webber behind the wheel for Minardi. The day's scheduled technical programme called for further set-up work related to the high-speed Monza circuit, site of the upcoming Italian Grand Prix, and evaluation of electronic software.

Despite several red-flag interruptions, Webber had a busy morning, running for nearly 50 laps in the dry conditions. The afternoon session was not quite as productive, however, as the car spent time in the garage while a gearbox problem was rectified.

Webber nonetheless completed a total of 66 laps, registering a fastest lap of 1.26.020. "We had a really good start to the day," said the Australian. "We did almost 50 laps this morning and were aiming to do the same this afternoon, gaining some good information for the next race here.

"We had some more new things to test, but experienced a repeat of some of the gearbox problems that occurred in Spa last weekend, which cost us time. It's a shame, because we got through a considerable amount of useful technical work this morning, and it would have been nice to do the same this afternoon.

"Anyway, it's far better to find the problems and fix them now than to have them occur during the race weekend. I'm now looking forward to the Italian Grand Prix here in 10 days' time."

Andy Tilley, Minardi Senior Race Engineer, added: "We had another constructive morning, with Mark doing further set-up and electronic work in preparation for the Italian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, a couple of mechanical and electronic problems cropped up this afternoon, which limited the amount of running we were able to do."

Alex Yoong will return to the cockpit for the fourth and final day of the test, on Friday.