Mugello, day 1: Albers debuts for Minardi
Newly signed test driver Christijan Albers made his debut for Minardi on Wednesday, as the Anglo-Italian team joined Sauber and Ferrari in a three-day test at the Tuscan circuit of Mugello
The day didn't get off to the best of starts for the young Dutchman, as in the morning all three teams' efforts were stymied because of repair work being carried out on the track. When the cars did go out in the afternoon, Albers then posted the slowest time of the day.
However, the DTM driver was up against regular race drivers Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld, and experienced tester Luca Badoer. And the Minardi was never going to match the power of the Ferrari engines in their cars.
Barrichello was the fastest driver on the track, his best lap of 1m24.667s was almost half a second quicker than team mate Badoer. Nick Heidfeld's Sauber was third, with Albers rounding out the bottom of the timesheets.
Testing continues on Thursday when reigning world champion Michael Schumacher takes over from Badoer as the teams develop their traction control systems in time for the Spanish Grand Prix.
1 Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), B, 1m24.667s, 58
2 Luca Badoer (Ferrari), B, 1m25.038s, 68
3 Nick Heidfeld (Sauber-Petronas) B, 1m25.566s, 58
4 Christijan Albers (Minardi-European), M, 1m31.446, 27
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