Ferrari, Toyota kick off Paul Ricard test

Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer worked at the wheel of the 248 F1 car, the Italian focussing on tyre testing for Bridgestone.

Badoer set a best time of 58.676 after 150 laps of the 3E-SC layout of the French track.

Badoer will be replaced by San Marino Grand Prix winner Michael Schumacher tomorrow.

The Toyota team worked alongside Ferrari, with Ricardo Zonta and Jarno Trulli carrying out testing duties for the Japanese squad. Trulli focused on collecting data from the new B-car package, which made its track debut today and which the team plan to race at the Monaco Grand Prix.

"We had a difficult morning with the track conditions and then we had some delays with my car," said Trulli at the end of the day. "The day was very promising, especially with the new car and in general, the testing we got through was good.

"Tomorrow I hope to put in even more laps to gain a feeling for the new package and to be able to make a better judgement."

Zonta, meanwhile, concentrated on tyre testing.

"This is the first time that we have used this circuit layout, so we had to work on our set-up to adjust to this," said the Brazilian. "In the morning, the track was very dirty, with pollen and dust from the trees, therefore, we also spent a lot of time cleaning the track.

"Nevertheless, we did a lot of different tyre tests and the day turned out to be productive, with my car performing well. Now we have tomorrow and Friday to focus on some long runs."

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                        Time    Laps
 1.  Zonta         Toyota               (B)    58.262   91
 2.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)    58.630   63
 3.  Badoer        Ferrari              (B)    58.676  150

All Timing Unofficial