Schumacher Fastest at Rain-Hit Monza - Day One

The majority of the Formula One teams today got back to testing following the month-long August ban, beginning a four-day session at the Monza circuit, where the Italian Grand Prix will take place next week.

The seven teams working today at the Italian circuit, however, were hampered by a rain storm that restricted their dry running only to the morning session.

World Champion Michael Schumacher, winner of the Belgian Grand Prix last Sunday, topped the timesheets on the first day of work, the German driver using the Ferrari F2002 for the first time at the Italian track.

Schumacher, who concentrated on aerodynamic work and tyre testing ahead of his Ferrari team's home race, outpaced Briton Anthony Davidson, who was impressive at the wheel of the first British American Racing.

Davidson, who replaced Malaysian Alex Yoong at Minardi in Hungary and Belgium, today returned to his usual job as test driver, lapping less than half a second slower than Schumacher.

Williams test driver Marc Gene was third quickest at the wheel of the BMW-powered FW24, while Nick Heidfeld was fourth in the only Sauber on track today, the German working on developing the Swiss squad's low downforce configuration.

"We made a big step forward for the set-up on this circuit which requires the least downforce of all the circuits on the F1 calendar," said Heidfeld. "Sauber is in good shape for this test and we will continue this development scheme if the weather is good tomorrow."

Williams worked with two cars, the second driven by Ralf Schumacher, who finished in fifth place after 45 laps.

"We begun an important test today in Monza," said Tim Newton, Williams' test team manager. "Heavy rain started before lunch so we decided to split the session to get a clear understanding of the relative performances, therefore the afternoon wet session has a separate time sheet. A systematic set-up preparation for Monza using the race chassis.”

Both Renault drivers Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli were in action at Monza today, the Briton finishing more than half a second ahead of his teammate, who outpaced the two Toyotas present on track.

"Obviously, the weather made running difficult during the first day of Monza testing," said Renault's technical director Mike Gascoyne. "However, the drivers both managed to complete an aero evaluation in the morning, while the afternoon saw them get their first taste of Michelin's latest generation of wet-weather tyres."

Ryan Briscoe and Frenchman Stephane Sarrazin were in charge of carrying out the testing duties for Japanese squad Toyota, the young Australian finishing ahead of the team's second test driver.

"In this morning's session I concentrated my efforts on acquiring data from the track, working more specifically on strategy development," said Briscoe. "There was some torrential rain in the late morning session and the track stayed wet for the remainder of the day, even if the weather got a bit better.

"We used the opportunity to test our launch control system in the wet conditions, which meant I was just going out on track and straight back in again for most of the afternoon. All in all though it was productive session and I am quite happy."

The Toyota duo finished only ahead of Belgian David Saelens, who was more than ten seconds off the pace in the Minardi.

"I enjoyed a very good day of testing with no mistakes, despite the poor weather conditions," said Saelens at the end of the day. "For me, it has not been easy to drive an F1 car for the first time in very wet track conditions on one of the fastest F1 circuits, where speeds are above 330 km/h. It was definitely quite challenging."

Testing at Monza continues tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:24.595 57 2. Davidson BAR-Honda (B) 1:25.188 78 3. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:25.217 56 4. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:25.387 49 5. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:26.082 45 6. Lemarie BAR-Honda (B) 1:26.347 35 7. Button Renault (M) 1:26.385 46 8. Trulli Renault (M) 1:26.994 51 9. Briscoe Toyota (M) 1:27.464 47 10. Sarrazin Toyota (M) 1:28.234 47 11. Saelens Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:35.149 22 All Timing Unofficial

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