17/09/2004
NEWS STORY
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World Champion Michael Schumacher was in action at Jerez on Thursday, as was F3000 champion, Vitantonio Liuzzi, who was making his F1 debut with Sauber.
Schumacher continued with tyre testing aimed at the remaining races of the season. The German was at the wheel of an F2004, covering a total of 83 laps.
Liuzzi covered 60 laps in chassis C23-05.
"Vitantonio used the morning to familiarise himself with the car," said technical director, Willy Rampf. "He coped with the driving and the different set-up possibilities astonishingly soon. His work and feedback concerning the car handling were pretty good and useful for the engineers. Furthermore, his lap times were quite constant and improved steadily. In the afternoon he was able to participate in the Bridgestone tyre programme in preparation to the Chinese Grand Prix.
"Overall I have to say that considering that it was just a one-day test he managed this work really well."
"It was a great day for me and I feel very happy," said Liuzzi. "Driving a Formula One car doesn't happen every day.
"In the morning the track conditions were not the best otherwise I'm sure I could have been quicker, but in the afternoon it improved and we were able to complete our programme.
"I felt really good in the team. It was important for me to do this test, to understand how this team works and to run as many kilometres in a Formula One car as possible."