Schumacher Happy with New Ferrari

The German driver, who struggled to score two points at last Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix, took over from teammate Rubens Barrichello as Ferrari continued testing the new car before deciding if they will race it at the Bahrain Grand Prix next week.

Barrichello admitted he was pleased with the pace of the car during yesterday's test, although he was hindered by some mechanical problems at the end of the session.

Schumacher, who completed 81 laps today with a best time of 1:21.233, was also happy with the car.

"Getting into a new car for the first time is always a really special moment," Schumacher said. "But it's even more interesting right now, seeing that we did not really do well in Malaysia.

"But it was not just because of that it felt really good to finally be able to drive and feel the F2005. Of course, Luca and Rubens had told me a lot about it, but I wanted to see what my own impression would be: and it is very good.

"This car has been driven quite a lot, it's not as if it was brand new and going to leave the garage for the first time. So it all felt a little different than it usually does when you take a new car to the track for the first time.

"The most important thing is that the new car shows that it's good and it's fast. And this car did both right away. I had not driven the F2004 here at Mugello, so I can't really compare the two, but I am very happy with the car."

It was the final day of testing of the week for the Italian squad.