F1:Massa on flying form for Ferrari

[Plex]

Ferrari�s Felipe Massa set a blistering pace in the F2007 as testing continued for a second day at Barcelona�s Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday. Massa clocked a best lap of 1m 21.181s at the Spanish track - just over five-tenths of a second quicker than team mate Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari.

After a trying opening day for the Italian team on Monday, the programme for Massa and Raikkonen was to complete as much mileage as possible. Raikkonen totalled 154 laps during the day and Massa 108, with neither F2007 suffering any serious problems.

Meanwhile Heikki Kovalainen put Renault third, as he concentrated on set-up and conducted some initial evaluation of aerodynamic components ahead of the hot weather tests in Bahrain later in the month. Kovalainen was joined on track by fellow race driver Giancarlo Fisichella, who moved up the times to finish in fifth in the second R27.

At McLaren, Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest, while Lewis Hamilton was sixth. Both drivers continued to carry out aero evaluations in the team�s new MP4-22 during the morning, but in the afternoon Hamilton switched to race simulation work.

Robert Kubica was the quickest BMW Sauber driver in seventh as he tested dampers, while team mate Nick Heidfeld finished in 12th. Test driver Sebastian Vettel will take over driving duties from Kubica and join Heidfeld on track on Wednesday.

The Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Franck Montagny were eighth and 11th fastest respectively. Although Trulli�s morning was interrupted by an electronic problem, both drivers had a fruitful day and covered a total of 200 laps in the two TF107s.

�We made it through a lot of laps so that was a fairly productive day for us,� explained Toyota chief engineer, Dieter Gass. �Jarno lost some time this morning with an electronics problem but his afternoon�s work was more successful. He was mainly doing set-up work and putting mileage on the car�s systems. Franck started the morning with some long runs and we were able to collect some good data from that.�

Splitting the two Toyotas in the times were Nico Rosberg and Alexander Wurz for Williams. The pair each took charge of a FW29, continuing set-up work. Rosberg completed just 10 laps during the day, while Wurz covered 56.

Rubens Barrichello was the leading Honda driver in 13th, with team mate Jenson Button just two-tenths down in 14th. Both concentrated on chassis set-up and aero evaluations.

Although Toro Rosso�s Vitantonio Liuzzi failed to make it out on track in the newly-launched STR2, Red Bull�s Mark Webber and David Coulthard took 15th and 16th spots, as they continued development work on the new RB3. Completing the line-up were Super Aguri�s Anthony Davidson in 17th and Christijan Albers in 18th for Spyker.

Testing is due to conclude in Barcelona on Wednesday.

Unofficial Tuesday times from Barcelona:
1. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:21.181
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:21.719
3. Heikki Kovalainen, Renault, 1:21.819
4. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:21.901
5. Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault, 1:21.997
6. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:22.078
7. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:22.100
8. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 1:22.227
9. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:22.249
10. Alexander Wurz, Williams, 1:22.288
11. Franck Montagny, Toyota, 1:22.476
12. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:22.618
13. Rubens Barrichello, Honda, 1:22.669
14. Jenson Button, Honda, 1:22.816
15. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:22.916
16. David Coulthard, Red Bull, 1:23.322
17. Anthony Davidson, Super Aguri, 1:23.969
18. Christijan Albers, Spyker, 1:24.425

F1