The first day of the Monza testing saw drivers from almost all Formula One teams participate (BAR and Minardi were absent). Ralf Schumacher topped the time sheets, only 0.120s ahead of Benetton's Giancarlo Fisicella, who suffered a heavy crash in the morning.

Ferrari's new-hired driver, Mika Salo, was not present at the test but rather was in Fiorano where he had a seat fitting for his new single-seater. Salo had his first run on the Fiorano track in the early evening. He did a total of 26 laps, with a best time of 1:04.541. Testing ended at 9:00pm. The Finn driver continues testing at Fiorano tomorrow.

Pos  Driver        Team                Time      Laps
 1.  R.Schumacher  Williams-Supertec   1:26.111  36  
 2.  Fisichella    Benetton-Playlife   1:26.231  62  
 3.  Coulthard     McLaren-Mercedes    1:26.276  57  
 4.  Irvine        Ferrari             1:26.293  58  
 5.  Zanardi       Williams-Supertec   1:26.767  75  
 6.  Burti         Stewart-Ford        1:26.780  66  
 7.  Heidfeld      Jordan-Mugen Honda  1:27.120  21  
 8.  Alesi         Sauber-Petronas     1:27.244  65  
 9.  Sarrazin      Prost-Peugeot       1:27.305  47  
10.  Redon         Benetton-Playlife   1:28.426  26  
11.  de la Rosa    Arrows-TWR          1:28.431  56  

Weather: Air temp. 26°C, track 45°C, sunny