Williams Paul Ricard test notes 2004-03-25

Ralf Schumacher joined Antonio Pizzonia at Le Castellet today, as the BMW WilliamsF1 Team continued its preparations for the forthcoming Bahrain Grand Prix. The Mistral wind that hampered yesterday's programme abated today, allowing temperatures to reach 13°C.

Ralf Schumacher today joined BMW WilliamsF1 Team test driver, Antonio Pizzonia, as the team continued its preparations for next week's inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix, round three of the 2004 Formula One World Championship.

Ralf worked on set-ups for much of the morning before turning his attention to the WilliamsF1 BMW FW26's traction control in the afternoon. The German, who carried out a number of simulated race starts, completed 104 laps of the Paul Ricard Circuit, setting a best time of 1:11.520.

Yesterday's pace-setter, Antonio Pizzonia, carried out a number of long distance runs in the WilliamsF1 BMW FW26, before switching to tyre evaluations in the afternoon, these were in preparation for next month's San Marino Grand Prix. The Brazilian completed 129 trouble-free laps, posting a best time of 1:11.211.

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"Today Ralf joined the test and spent the morning tyre testing for Michelin. In the afternoon he worked on traction control and set-up options for the forthcoming races. Antonio also spent the day tyre testing, performing long runs on the favoured tyres that he evaluated yesterday. He also completed some fuel system checks."

Tomorrow, Ralf is joined by reigning IRL Champion, Scott Dixon, who is making his Formula One debut.

-williams-