Schumacher Sets Pace at Barcelona

World Champion Michael Schumacher posted the fastest time on the opening day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Despite the concerns about the track's lack of grip after the new asphalt was laid, Schumacher managed a lap of 1:15.461, just around four tenths of a second off his pole position time at last year's Spanish Grand Prix.

It was the first day of work for Schumacher since the end of last season in Brazil. The German, flying to Barcelona from Rome on Monday after he and his Ferrari teammates had presented Pope John Paul with a model F2004 car in an audience at the Vatican, said he was pleased to be back.

"In the evening I drove down to the track and had dinner with the lads," he said on his website. "After all, I hadn't seen the test team for a while. It felt good to be at the track again and I really enjoyed that feeling this morning as well."

Schumacher's pace at the wheel of the F2004, in standard configuration, was unrivaled, with Australian Mark Webber finishing over 1.5 seconds behind the World Champion. The Williams driver worked alongside Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia, third fastest in the second FW26 car.

Italian driver Jarno Trulli managed the fourth quickest time of the session as his Toyota team continued with the development work of the new TF105 car. For the first time the Japanese squad had two new cars in action at the same time, with German Ralf Schumacher at the wheel of the second one.

The Red Bull team, who finally decided to stay at Barcelona despite the tarmac concerns, had both David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi on track. The Scot was the fastest of the two, finishing over a second ahead of the Italian driver.

Testing continues tomorrow.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time Laps 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:15.461 103 2. Webber Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.137 92 3. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 1:17.357 92 4. Trulli Toyota (M) 1:18.392 64 5. Coulthard Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:18.449 68 6. Liuzzi Red Bull-Cosworth (M) 1:19.544 66 7. R.Schumacher Toyota (M) 1:19.961 47 All Timing Unofficial

View today's Full Laptimes from the Barcelona track

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