Schumacher to test drive Ferrari

LONDON, England -- Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher will come out of retirement to test drive for Ferrari in Barcelona next week, the team said on Tuesday.

The announcement has led to speculation that the German will attempt a comeback to Formula One but both his connections and the team were quick to dispel rumors.

Reports linking the 38-year-old with a drive for McLaren-Mercedes in 2008 in place of deposed world champion Fernando Alonso were dismissed by his manager Willi Weber.

"It's completely untrue," he said on Monday.

A Ferrari team spokesman also denied he would be making a comeback.

"It's half for pleasure, half for technical reasons," he said, adding that Schumacher's experience in cars without driver aids was invaluable as new rules are coming into play next season to ban traction control systems.

Schumacher, who retired at the end of the 2006 season, won a record 91 Grand Prix in a glittering career.

He has been employed as a Ferrari technical adviser this season and attended several races as his successor Kimi Raikkonen claimed the world title.

Schumacher is due to test drive the 2007 Ferrari car at the Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday and Wednesday. E-mail to a friend