ROME (AP) — Michael Schumacher borrowed an old Ferrari car to test his form ahead of a comeback to Formula One as substitute driver for the injured Felipe Massa.

The 40-year-old German on Friday took the wheel of a privately owned Ferrari used in the 2007 season and raced it around the Mugello circuit in Tuscany, the team said.

Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni said Schumacher had organized the test to check his physical condition. He could not drive the current Ferrari car due to F1's ban on in-season testing.

"Although those cars are not current or last year's ones, I simply like to drive as much as possible, so this is a good option," Schumacher wrote on his Web site.

He said that on Thursday he had been at Ferrari's headquarters in Maranello to run tests in a static simulator.

Schumacher, who retired in 2006, was back in the cockpit just two days after Ferrari announced the seven-time F1 champion would replace Massa until his return, starting with the European GP on Aug. 21-23, in Valencia, Spain.

The 28-year-old Massa underwent surgery on multiple skull fractures after he was hit in the helmet by a loose part from another car and crashed into a protective tire barrier during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix last Saturday. He is expected to return home to Brazil on Monday.