JANUARY 8, 2001

Schumacher tops times on Jerez first day

BMW-WILLIAMS driver Ralf Schumacher topped the times on the first day of testing at Jerez on Monday.

BMW-WILLIAMS driver Ralf Schumacher topped the times on the first day of testing at Jerez on Monday.

The German driver posted a quickest time of one minute and 23.630 seconds as he outpaced new team-mate Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya at the Spanish circuit.

Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella was third quickest on his first outing since his knee operation and was marginally slower than Colombian Montoya while BMW-Williams test driver Marc Gene was almost 1.5 seconds slower than Schumacher.

Briton Jenson Button was slowest of the five drivers in action as he posted a fastest lap time of one minute and 25.789 seconds in his Benetton.

Times from Monday's testing at Jerez:

POS DRIVER ENTRANT TIME
Ralf Schumacher BMW-Williams 1:23.630
Juan Pablo Montoya BMW-Williams 1:23.909
Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton 1:23.914
Marc Gene BMW-Williams 1:25.156
Jenson Button Benetton 1:25.789