Formula 1 News

Barcelona, Test Day 1: Michael Schumacher quickest 

Michael Schumacher, 7 time Formula One World Champion made an impressive comeback to F1 action by getting the fastest lap times on Test Day 1 at Barcelona’s circuit. Schumacher, who hadn’t raced with a Grand Prix car since his retirement a year ago, had his best lap time with 1’21”922 in Ferrari’s F2007, preceding Luca Badoer, Ferrari’s test driver, by over two tenths of a second after 64 laps.

“I think there is a guy called Michael. It looks as though he’s got a talent. He will make his way to F1,” joked David Coulthard.

Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren’s test driver, was 3rd quickest, over seven tenths of a second behind Schumacher’s time. The British team worked also with Briton Gary Paffett, and both him and de la Rosa focused on running without driving aids on the MP4-22 car.

BMW Sauber team had Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica in action, both men concentrating on testing their cars without traction control. Kubica was the fastest of the two with the 4th quickest time, with Heidfeld down in 10th.

Jarno Trulli was 9th fastest for Toyota, although he had a difficult day as he was suffering from a fever that makes things harder for him. Trulli, working alongside Franck Montagny, suffered an engine problem near the end of the session. “It was nice to be back behind the wheel apart from the fact I was a bit sick today with a fever, so it wasn’t the best way to get back in the car,” said Jarno. “But we managed to go through all of my programme and we looked at developments for the 2008 car, working without traction control and looking at other test items. In general it was a smooth day apart from my engine problem at the end, which was a shame. We have two more days remaining so we will continue to work hard and try to make as much progress as possible.”

James Rossiter, Briton driver, was back testing with Honda , setting the 17th quickest time in an hybrid car. He finished behind Andreas Zuber, who made his F1 debut at the wheel of last year’s car. Fellow F1 debutant Karun Chandhok tested with the Red Bull team and finished in 18th position.

Anthony Davidson was in charge of testing duties for Super Aguri, who were running with a hybrid car. Davidson evaluated the new controls system that will be mandatory next season, posting the 16th fastest time.

Force India team, racing with their new color scheme since Spyker’s acquisition, used Giedo van der Garde and Roldan Rodriguez, the duo finishing at the bottom of the times.