Schumacher ends Jerez test fastest

The week's sweltering hot test session at Jerez de la Frontera came to a close on July 7th, eight drivers from five teams present at the Spanish circuit on the last day. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher set the best time, 1:16.633, and tester Luca Badoer was fourth. Aerodynamic and electronic development was their work, along with tyres.

Michael Schumacher.

Photo by Ferrari Media Center.

BMW's Jacques Villeneuve was second quickest, just over a second off the lead Ferrari, and team test driver Robert Kubica was third overall. They focused on aerodynamic work and tyres, the latter being the evaluation of compounds and casings for the German Grand Prix at the end of this month.

The Toyota duo of Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were fifth and sixth on the time sheet respectively. The team started its week on with testers Ricardo Zonta and Olivier Panis then the racers took over on Thursday. Today they carried out set up and tyre work and both cars had engine changes.

"We were running pretty hard and working on specific test items, so these changes were expected, yet we lost some time during the day," said test team manager Gerd Pfeiffer. "Nevertheless, we were able to complete the preparations for Magny Cours and made our tyre choice based on the data from today and yesterday."

Christian Klien was again the sole Red Bull present and clocked the seventh best time. The team ran just one car this week, with tester Robert Doornbos behind the wheel on Wednesday, and it was fitted with a new cooling package. Other work was the inevitable tyre testing.

"We completed our tyre programme, in itself an achievement with just one car and the new cooling package appears to be a definite improvement, which should bring some performance advantage at higher temperatures," said chief test engineer Ian Morgan.

The Williams of Mark Webber rounded off the times in eighth. He had an off in the morning that resulted in minor damage the front of the car, which lost him time while it was repaired. Once back on track he continued with aerodynamic work and tyre selection tests.

"We are continuing an aggressive programme of engine development through the season," said Sean O'Mahoney, principal engineer of Williams' engine partner Cosworth. "As such, at this week's Jerez test we tested some upgraded engine parts and ran extended engine duty above the normal race weekend mileage."

Meanwhile, MF1 was at Silverstone on the southern circuit. Christijan Albers was behind the wheel for the team and worked on tyres and front suspension. "Although it is difficult to say for certain, we have made some improvements to the car's handling in corner entry and braking situations," he commented.