McLaren's Wurz leads Schumacher in F-1 testing

VALENCIA, Spain January 30, 2003; Bloomberg News reports that McLaren's Alexander Wurz was fasted in preseason Formula One testing at Valencia, Spain, beating world champion Michael Schumacher by almost half a second.

Wurz, who hasn't driven in a Formula One race since 2000, clocked a best time of 1 minute, 11.104 seconds around the 4.005-kilometer (2.503-mile) track. Wurz, 28, is McLaren's test driver for 2003.

Schumacher timed 1:11.598, with McLaren's David Coulthard third another 0.034 second slower. Schumacher's Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello was fourth in 1:11.736, 0.307 of a second slower than yesterday, when he was fastest.

McLaren finished third in last season's constructors' championship with 67 points, 154 fewer than Ferrari. Ferrari is using the test to work on its tire and car electronics as it prepares to try for a fifth straight team title.

The season begins March 9 with the Grand Prix of Australia in Melbourne.