There was a surprise test at the Fiorano track on Wednesday when former Scuderia Ferrari pilota Carlos Reutemann (62) got behind the wheel of an F2004, renewing an acquaintance with the Ferrari team that had seen him race as a front runner in the second half of the Seventies.

Reutemann was hired towards the end of the 1976 season when it wasn't clear whether Niki Lauda, recovering from the burns he suffered as a result of his crash in the German GP and which so nearly cost him his life, would ever return. He did of course with one of the most tremendous ever triumphs of the human spirit in sporting history and went on to take his second title in 1977. Reutemann replaced Clay Regazzoni for that year, finishing in fourth place in the Drivers' Championship, with one win and making a great contribution to Ferrari's Constructors' title.

Reutemann became team leader for '78 after Lauda's departure, leaving at the end of the year after finishing third in the Championship and the "best of the rest" in a year where Team Lotus dominated through their introduction of ground effects technology. Reutemann competed in 34 races for the Scuderia, winning five of them. He went on to drive for Lotus and Williams, very nearly winning the World Championship in 1981 and retiring from the sport at the end of 1982. After his retirement he went into politics and became one of the leading politicians in Argentina as Governor of the Sante Fé province and later as a Senator.

The idea of a test drive had come from a telephone conversation with Luca di Montezemolo - Sporting Director from Reutemann's days as a Ferrari driver, and so he went to Fiorano where mechanics and engineers waited to put him through a really special test drive. It is hard to think of another F1 team who would have generosity of spirit to do something like this, let alone the means and the opportunity.

"It was an unforgettable experience," said Reutemann after the drive. "I would like to thank Ferrari for having organised this test. It was really exciting and I enjoyed myself very much! The car is impressive, especially in terms of the power from the engine. It is completely different to the car that I drove back in my day. Watching on television, Formula 1 today can look easy, but having tried it myself I can guarantee you that is not the case!"