01/09/2004
NEWS STORY
Having already told the world that he has no intention of retiring, and looks forward to racing for as long as he feels he enjoys it, Michael Schumacher proved the point by going out and lapping the Autodromo Nazionale Monza at almost 162 mph, posting the fastest time of the day, as testing resumed after a month long ban.
The day got off to a chilly start, with temperatures around the 15 degrees C mark. However, by the afternoon the sun was shining and the temperature had risen to 26 degrees.
Schumacher, along with teammate Rubens Barrichello focussed on set-up work for the forthcoming Italian Grand Prix, as well as aerodynamic work. Ahead of its home race, the Maranello outfit tried out a number of aerodynamic solutions, while Rubens completed a race distance without any problems.
BAR had Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato on duty, the duo finishing third and fourth quickest respectively. The English youngster ran a race distance, posting a best time just shy of Barrichello's best, while it's understood that the Japanese driver was running the latest-spec Honda power-plant for the first time.
Juan Pablo Montoya and Antonio Pizzonia were on duty for WilliamsF1, the Colombian working on tyre constructions, while his Brazilian team-mate focussed on aerodynamic components, brakes and rear tyre constructions. Between them, the duo completed 172 laps without any problems.
Renault had Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli in action. Both drivers conducted set-up work for the forthcoming Grand Prix, making progressive improvements in the car's handling. The team was also monitoring brake wear. However, both cars were delayed during the morning by minor electrical problems, which slightly disrupted both drivers' programmes.
Both cars experienced a trouble-free day on the engine side, an encouraging sign given the severity of the circuit for engine reliability. The team also ran solutions to the oil leak problem experienced at Spa-Francorchamps last Sunday. In addition, both drivers completed the initial phase of the tyre selection programme, and will continue their work tomorrow to hone their choices for the Grand Prix.
"In spite of several small niggles during running this morning, we completed a successful first day of running," said chief test engineer, Christian Silk. "Both drivers quickly settled back in to running the car in its low-downforce configuration, and the Monza-specific aero package performed as expected. The engine reliability was encouraging, and we have made good progress with the tyre programme, giving us a solid base for continuing our work tomorrow."
Following on from his strong performance at Spa on Sunday, Christian Klien was impressive again today, giving Alonso and Montoya a run for their money. The Austrian out-paced his Australian teammate, Mark Webber, by over half-a-second.
Belgian GP winners, McLaren, had David Coulthard and Alexander Wurz on duty. Both drivers continued with development of the MP4-19B.
After its successful result in Belgium, Sauber had Giancarlo Fisichella on duty today, the Italian completing 90 laps and posting a best time 1.8s off Schumacher's pace. Fisi continues tomorrow before handing over to Felipe Massa on Friday.
"This week our main target is, of course, working on our low downforce level in preparation to the Grand Prix next week," said, race engineer, Giampaolo Dall'Ara. "In the course of this we concentrated today on assessing Bridgestone tyre compound specifications whereby we plan to validate the collected data by long-runs tomorrow. As Monza is very hard on brakes we ran brake tests today, too."
Toyota had Olivier Panis and Ryan Briscoe on duty, the Australian showing no after-effects of his massive crash last Friday.
Propping up the timesheets, over 3s off the pace were Jordan's Giorgio Pantano and Minardi duo Gianmaria Bruni and Bas Leinders.