Thursday October 4th, 2001

German Michael Schumacher and Italian Luca Badoer continued testing for the Ferrari team at the Fiorano circuit on Thursday.

World Champion Schumacher, who yesterday broke the track record, was again at the wheel of the team's F2001, testing different components to be used in next season's car. The German completed 64 laps with a best time of 59.144.

"This week is our last chance to test this year," said Schumacher "We are working on new components, like the gearbox. It is still a prototype but it is progressing well. Yesterday's record lap? It's normal when you are trying something new, to push to the limit."

Test driver Badoer did 31 laps with a time of 59.949, the Italian driver also carrying out some tyre testing ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix. The track was artificially watered in the afternoon in order to test wet-weather tyres.

Both Schumacher and Badoer will resume their work on Friday.

Published at 17:29:09 GMT