Schumi tests F2007 Ferrari

Michael Schumacher declared himself satisfied with his first Formula 1 test since April 2008 after reacclimatising using a 2007 vintage Ferrari at Mugello today.

In preparation for his comeback substituting for the injured Felipe Massa in Valencia at the end of August, Schumacher completed 67 laps of the Italian track in the two-year-old car, which had been supplied by Ferrari's F1 Clienti department. The F2007 was running on GP2 specification slick tyres.

Schumacher set a best time of 1m23.736s, and although the unusual machinery made direct comparisons difficult, the fastest time recorded during the Ferrari F60's week-long test at Mugello in January was a 1m23.981s by Massa.

"It's a great thing getting back on the track with an F1 [car] even if this was a car from 2007 from the F1 Clienti department with slicks usually used in GP2 and obviously there is no real point of reference," said Schumacher.

"After a couple of laps I was able to drive costant lap times and I'm happy with the performance. Now we've got to see how my body and the muscles respond in the next days."

Ferrari is still awaiting a response from rival teams to its request for an exemption to the testing ban to let Schumacher try the 2009 car before Valencia.




Text as seen at autosport.com