Ferrari, Schu, accept test request snub

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari have apparently accepted the fact they will not be able to test the F60 prior to the seven time world champion's Formula One return in Spain later this month.

The Italian team had asked its nine on-track rivals and the FIA for an exemption from the in-season test ban so that Schumacher, 40, may acquaint with injured Felipe Massa's car.

Initially, Williams made clear its opposition to the plans, which amid the need for total unanimity was akin to a veto.

According to the Bloomberg news service, Ferrari's spokesman Luca Colajanni reacted: "If Williams says this, then fair enough."

Later, Red Bull's two teams Red Bull and Toro Rosso indicated they too would not be voting for the request for a dispensation, meaning that Schumacher's next test this week is likely to again be at the wheel of a two-year-old F2007 instead.

"From the beginning it was clear that in all probability there would not be a test with the new car," Schumacher's spokeswoman Sabine Kehm said on the Blickpunkt Sport programme.