Ralf surprise quickest at Silverstone test day 1

Following its trip to North America for the grands prix in Montreal and Indianapolis, Panasonic Toyota Racing today returned to action in Europe. The team has a three-day test scheduled this week at the UK circuit of Silverstone. The track will play host to the British Grand Prix in less than three weeks so this test gives teams the chance to complete some useful mileage at the Northamptonshire venue. For Toyota Ralf Schumacher was driving today, working on different systems but concentrating on set-up work for next month's race. He also carried out some qualifying runs and even recorded the fastest time of the day. The team will continue testing at Silverstone tomorrow with Jarno Trulli at the wheel.

Ralf Schumacher
"In general it was a successful day and we made it through everything that we had planned. We were concentrating on set-up work, primarily targeted at the British Grand Prix. We also looked at some different aero settings and did some qualifying runs. The conditions were very good, particularly in the morning, although the wind picked up in the afternoon. We had one stoppage after lunch while we changed some suspension settings but overall things went well."

Pos Driver Car Time
1. R. Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:22.794
2. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.915
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:23.329
4. Kovalainen Renault (B) 1:23.510
5. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:23.768
6. Heidfeld BMW (B) 1:23.841
7. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:24.125
8. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:24.665
9. van de Garde Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:25.391
10. Valles Spyker-Ferrari (B) 1:25.394