Monday January 17th, 2000

Michael Schumacher had his first test today since the 1999 season ended.

At the Barcelona circuit, where Ferrari are expected to test for the next four days (and will be joined tomorrow by other teams), Schumacher ran an F399 which was fitted with new lighter Brembo brakes.

Testing began at 10:45 and ended at 17:40. The German covered a total of 48 laps, with a best time of 1:21.036 - just 0.029s slower than the time set by Rubens Barrichello last week (1:21.007).

"So far everything went according to schedule and we experienced no problems at all," Schumacher said this evening. "It was really great to be back in the car again after such a long period. At first I decided I would not test again before the F320 is ready. However, after a while, the desire to drive again arose."

The 1999 Barcelona lap record is 1:20.540 (R. Barrichello)