Michael Schumacher stepped back inside a Formula One car for the first time this year and set a lap record at the Italian team's private test track. Ferrari said the world champion drove last season's F2001 at Fiorano, testing new experimental components. The German, who had not been expected back in action until Valencia in Spain at the end of the week, had a six hour session and completed 69 laps with a fastest time of 58.783 seconds.
Elsewhere, McLaren's David Coulthard, runner-up to Schumacher in the championship in 2001, was fastest in Valencia on a day when only Michelin-equipped teams were running. Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was second fastest in a Williams on a track deliberately soaked by the French tyre maker to test wet weather tyres.
Meanwhile, Ferrari are believed to see Montoya as the long-term replacement for their number one driver Schumacher. Montoya's manager Julian Jakobi has denied the claim, but Montoya himself is on record as saying that he would love to drive for Ferrari.
Filed by Shane Murray
