Tuesday October 1st, 2002

Italian Luca Badoer was the quickest of the two drivers who began a three-day testing programme at the Mugello circuit today.

The Ferrari team returned to work after their one-two victory at Sunday's United States Grand Prix, and Badoer was quicker than Brazilian Felipe Massa. Badoer, who completed a total of 95 laps with the F2002, set a fastest time of 1:22.730, nearly three seconds quicker than Massa.

The Sauber driver was returning to action today after being replaced by German Heinz-Harald Frentzen at Indianapolis last weekend. Massa continued with the Swiss squad's aerodynamic development programme, completing 71 laps with fastest one of 1:25.310.

"It felt really great to be back behind the wheel of the Sauber today," admitted Massa. "It took a while for the track to reach its best condition this morning but after that it was really good.

"I was very happy to be carrying out valuable development work in readiness for the Japanese race. We tried a number of different set-ups and aerodynamic components today, and have a good direction to follow tomorrow."

Testing at Mugello continues tomorrow.

Published at 16:55:26 GMT