Schumacher Remains Fastest at Monza - Final Day

With only Ferrari and Williams testing for a fourth day at Monza, World Champion Michael Schumacher ended the day with the fastest of the week.

Ferrari and Williams were testing until 1pm today, when the testing session for the week was concluded. McLaren, who were scheduled to test today as well, have decided to leave Monza last night having completed their testing programme for the week.

Schumacher's time, of 1:20.730, is half a second faster than his previous fastest, set yesterday, but also half a second slower than last year's pole position, set by Williams's Juan Pablo Montoya. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello also set a time of one minute and twenty seconds - about one tenth of a second slower than Schumacher.

The Ferrari pair were closely followed by Williams's Montoya and test drivers Marc Gene for Williams and Luca Badoer for Ferrari.

The session went without any major problems for either teams, with the notable exception of Schumacher stopping at the track on his final lap, on the way to the pits. Ferrari did not mention, however, whether he experienced a problem or merely ran out of fuel.

Sam Michael, Williams's chief operations engineer, commented at the end of the session: "The team concluded a good week of work here after a difficult start with Ralf's accident. Thankfully Ralf was unhurt and we were also able to quickly identify and resolve the problem which caused the incident.

"We had a productive test over a wide variety of development areas which will give us a number of significant steps for the forthcoming race. We found improvements in casings and compounds as part of our normal long term development programme. As a result of the progress we have made together with Michelin this week, we will also be bringing good improvements to the tyres for the Italian Grand Prix."

"The most important news from this test is, that Ralf has overcome his accident without injuries," added Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director.

"Of course, the accident did hamper our programme to a degree. We have lost some time and Ralf's feedback on the car. But still, We have recorded good results during the test, especially with regard to set up and tyres, as well as aerodynamics.

"We had no engine problems during the entire test and achieved good mileage. We are pleased with our performance and the team looks well prepared for the Monza race."

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:20.730 61 2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:20.850 49 3. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:21.054 72 4. Gene Williams-BMW (M) 1:21.488 35 5. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:21.865 43 All Timing Unofficial

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