Yes, the legendary Schumi is back on F1 track. At the first and second day of Barcelona practice, Schumi was the fastest. Well, who wouldn’t expect such an outcome? He won’t be a 7-time F1 Champ for nothing.
Schumi’s glorious F1 comeback in testing for the Scuderia started on Tuesday and continued on Wednesday. The German race icon set the fastest time at the Circuit de Catalunya. The most successful F1 driver clocked a best time of 1.21.486 - some half a second better than his time on Tuesday and four-tenths faster than McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa.
Heikki Kovalainen was the third best time of the day and was just a bit slower than de la Rosa. Kovalainen spent most of the morning doing set-up work. He then worked on brake testing and the new procedures that the team has had to put in place when using the new ECU, reports said.
"The day went pretty well. We lost a little bit of track time early afternoon, but it was nothing serious and I reckon we’ve made good progress. The car ran well and we’re going in the right direction. That’s what really counts," said Kovalainen.
Tuesday’s times:
1. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, 1:21.918
2. Luca Badoer, Ferrari, 1:22.133
3. Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren, 1:22.687
4. Heikki Kovalainen, Renault, 1:22.802
5. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:22.883
6. Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:23.008
7. David Coulthard, Red Bull, 1:23.159
8. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 1:23.187
9. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 1:23.624
10. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:23.671
11. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:23.847
12. Franck Montagny, Toyota, 1:23.861
13. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:24.048
14. Andreas Zuber, Honda, 1:24.065
15. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 1:24.193
16. Anthony Davidson, Super Aguri, 1:24.245
17. James Rossiter, Honda, 1:24.480
18. Karun Chandhok, Red Bull, 1:24.896
19. Giedo van der Garde, Force India, 1:25.317
20. Roldan Rodriguez, Force India, 1:26.297
Wednesday’s times:
1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1.21.486 90
2. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:21.857 60
3. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:21.894 65
4. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:22.044 56
5. Paffett McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.293 57
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.333 64
7. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.555 74
8. Heidfeld BMW (B) 1:22.946 102
9. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:23.031 77
10. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.187 74
11. Chandhok Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:23.255 57
12. Button Honda (B) 1:23.358 79
13. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:23.465 54
14. Kubica BMW (B) 1:23.488 37
15. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:23.547 80
16. Filippi Honda (B) 1:23.596 74
17. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:23.753 72
18. Montagny Toyota (B) 1:23.977 45
19. Klien Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:24.446 56
20. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:23.537 105
21. Liuzzi Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:24.555 55
If only I have the opportunity to witness the practice, I could’ve dropped my Acura spark plugs, reschedule my maintenance and go straight to Circuit de Catalunya. Unfortunately, I don’t have that luck. So better keep myself busy with car repairs.
[credits: Formula1, Planet F-1]