Ferrari Test New Systems at Fiorano

World Champions Ferrari continued on Friday with their preparations for the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix, testing for the fourth consecutive day at the Fiorano circuit in Italy.

Both Michael Schumacher and the team's test driver Luca Badoer were in action at the Italian track, again testing new components for the 2002 car, also carrying out more tyre testing. The team also tested a new gearbox to be used next season.

The German driver was the fastest of the two, setting a quickest time of 59.033 after completing a total of 63 laps. Badoer's best lap was 1:06.855, the Italian working on a wet track with intermediate tyres.

"I am very happy with the work we have done this week," said Schumacher after the test. "It's been a while that we wanted to try something revolutionary and we did it with the new gearbox.

"Given the first results we have achieved with new components - and the gearbox was the not the only new thing we tried - I am optimistic about next year."

The Italian team were also the protagonists of a revolutionary experiment in collaboration with the sport's governing body, the FIA. The experiment consisted of a system that provides radar images of where a car is on the track, showing the distance between a car and the one behind.

In addition, the team tested a lights system aimed to indicate when a car is slowing down, which had already been tried in free practice for the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

"All these things are very important and I approve of these changes in any case," said Schumacher. "They are steps in the right direction, because it is a good thing to improve safety. I think it is good that so much is done and studied in this area. All in all, this is obviously a positive step for the drivers."

Badoer will continue testing alone at Fiorano on Saturday.