R.Schumacher Joins Button at Estoril

Williams continued testing at the recently refurbished Estoril track in Portugal yesterday, with Ralf Schumacher joining his teammate Jenson Button.

Jenson Button completed 72 laps on his last day of testing at the track, setting the fastest time of 1:22.612. "The track has definitely improved from yesterday," he said. "It is going to get better and better as it gets more rubber down. I like this track and I had a very positive day of testing achieving quite a good mileage. We also tried some items in preparation for the forthcoming Austian Grand Prix," said Button.

Ralf Schumacher completed only 15 laps, mainly to familiarise himself with the new layout, having previously driven on the old layout in late 1996 and early 1997. "I cannot comment too much on my first day of testing on this track," Ralf said, "as I haven't achieved enough mileage so far. I started my test quite late, just to get familiar with the circuit, also doing a few practice starts. I am looking forward to tomorrow, when we will have a whole day of work." Schumacher's best time was a 1:24.023.