Schumacher: Rossi looking good

Rossi has been taking part in his first F1 test with other cars at Valencia in Spain and, despite an embarrassing spin in the wet on his first lap of the track, he was on the pace yesterday.

Schumacher reserved judgement on how good Rossi is, but the German said his first impressions are positive.

"It is difficult to make any judgement because he has only tested three times, but they all looked positive," he said.

When asked whether there was any advice he could give Rossi, Schumacher said: "No. I don't think he needs any advice. He definitely has a talent and I think it is easier to change from two wheels to four wheels. He can definitely use his skill on four wheels."

Although Rossi's spin in the wet on Tuesday grabbed the headlines, Schumacher believes it was nothing out of the ordinary to make an error like that.

"It is normal in those conditions, even on rain tyres," he explained. "It is very slippery and that is what happened."

Schumacher admitted he was actually enjoying being away from the spotlight for once.

"Eventually it can give me a hand, because it allows me to work more calmly, and it doesn't distract the team: we have a programme and  we go our own way," he said.

"It's a good novelty in this world, so welcome to him. Valentino has a great feeling on two wheels, so he can have an advantage on cars. Of course we spoke, but I didn't give him advice: he doesn't need it."

Toyota driver Jarno Trulli said Rossi's spin on the first day was understandable.

"Valentino started this test in difficult weather conditions for us professional car drivers, let alone for him," Trulli told Gazzetta dello Sport. "To have among us a motorbikes champion is the only novelty in F1. The important thing for him now is to avoid forging ahead."

Former World Champion Jacques Villeneuve claimed he was not surprised by Rossi's pace.

"It's nice that he's driving with us. Seeing how he's going, however, he must quit bikes and come here, and maybe I'll go on motorbikes," the Canadian said. "I think it's fairly normal he's driving well, even though the last few tenths are the hardest to take away."

Williams driver Nico Rosberg said Rossi had enough talent to be fast in a Formula One car, although the German admitted Rossi was at an advantage driving the V10-engined car.

"Surely he has a talent for this sport, but we'll have to see how he does in a race. He has a car advantage as he's using a V10, but for a first day it's not bad."

Rossi's father Graziano claimed he had expected his son to be fast and admitted he was happy to see him driving alongside other F1 drivers.

"It's been a very good day," he said. The thing that excited me the most has been seeing Valentino like one of them. Of course, there's time to improve and work, but he already looks like an F1 driver, and this excites me greatly.

"I expected him to be this quick. There's no comparison with the way he run the first two times at Fiorano. But at Mugello he had already improved a lot and went fast. Here I've seen him in even better shape, and most of all he's found himself [driving] among the others.

"He was overtaken a few times, and he overtook once: the normal path you have to follow in these cases. I feel this adventure has been embarked on without great pressures, because I see him motivated like when he's playing a good game."