29/01/2005
NEWS STORY
Testing continued at Barcelona today, with Ferrari and Sauber in action.
Michael Schumacher and Luca Badoer were in action for the Italian team. The world champion continued with set up work on the F2004 M, while Badoer, at the wheel of an F2004, concentrated on development of Bridgestone tyres.
Also in action was Felipe Massa in the Sauber C24. The Brazilian completed the most laps (128), however his best time was over 2.6s off the pace.
"Again we struggled with the low temperatures," said race engineer, Mike Krack, "but overall the weather and track conditions got better compared to yesterday. We mainly focused on long-runs and worked on the set-up to improve the car’s balance, and made quite good progress. We also did some aerodynamic parts assessments at the end of the test day. Running over 120 trouble-free laps, which equals almost two race distances, shows the high reliability of the C24 and leaves us feeling positive as this will be an even more important issue in the forthcoming season.
"Tomorrow we will continue with Jacques to work on the set-up and will also do some Michelin tyre tests."
The air temperature never got above 10 degrees C, while conditions were overcast for most of the day.