Monza test - day one: 2 September.
McLaren-Mercedes driver David Coulthard set the pace today [Tuesday], at the Monza circuit in Italy.
DC completed 60 laps in total, his best a 1 minute 22.065 seconds, while Ralf Schumacher was next up for Williams-BMW, around four tenths slower. The German though ended the day in hospital after crashing heavily at the Lesmo corner, with only minutes of the session remaining.
McLaren-Mercedes driver David Coulthard set the pace today [Tuesday], at the Monza circuit in Italy.
DC completed 60 laps in total, his best a 1 minute 22.065 seconds, while Ralf Schumacher was next up for Williams-BMW, around four tenths slower. The German though ended the day in hospital after crashing heavily at the Lesmo corner, with only minutes of the session remaining.
A spokesperson for Williams, told Reuters: "He's okay but he's been taken to hospital for further checks. He's walking and the engineers are saying he is okay and everything."
Ralf's brother, Michael meanwhile was third quickest, the five times world champion, one of three Ferraris on track, as the German was joined by Felipe Massa and Luca Baoder - all of them running in F2003-GA's. The Scuderia's technical programme covered aerodynamic and tyre testing, as well as working on finding the best set-up on the car.
Jenson Button was fourth quickest for BAR-Honda, two hundredths up on McLaren test driver, Alexander Wurz. Then came Jacques Villeneuve, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Felipe Massa in sixth, seventh and eighth, with Takuma Sato and Juan Pablo Montoya rounding off the top ten.
Montoya, like his team-mate, Ralf spent the day working on preparation with the FW25 for the Italian GP next weekend, this included tyre testing for Michelin and some brake investigation work.
Toyota were also in action, all three drivers on track, Olivier Panis heading the Cologne based concern's trio of TF103's in eleventh, while Badoer was twelfth and Justin Wilson, thirteenth for Jaguar.
Testing continues tomorrow [Wednesday].
Leading times (2 September) - Monza:
1. David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1m 22.065s 60 laps M
2. Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1m 22.416s 62 laps M
3. Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1m 22.524s 30 laps B
4. Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1m 22.613s 81 laps B
5. Alex Wurz McLaren-Mercedes 1m 22.630s 73 laps M
6. Jacques Villlenuve BAR-Honda 1m 22.647s 82 laps B
7. Heinz-Harald Frentzen Sauber-Petronas 1m 22.651s 69 laps B
8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m 22.744s 64 laps B
9. Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1m 23.153s 32 laps B
10. Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1m 23.163s 88 laps M
11. Olivier Panis Toyota 1m 23.164s 66 laps M
12. Luca Badoer Ferrari 1m 23.153s 45 laps B
13. Justin Wilson Jaguar-Cosworth 1m 23.210s 68 laps M
14. Ricardo Zonta Toyota 1m 23.193s 84 laps M
15. Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1m 24.251s 67 laps M
M - denotes Michelin tyres
B - denotes Bridgestone tyres
Weather / track conditions: Sunny, warm and dry.
Comparative lap times:
Italian GP 2002:
Pole position Juan Montoya Williams-BMW FW24 1m 20.264s
Fastest lap Rubens Barrichello Ferrari F2002 1m 23.657s
