Planet-F1

No stopping Massa at the moment

Wednesday 27th August 2008

Fresh from his victory in the European GP, Felipe Massa continued his good form during the first day of testing in Monza on Wednesday.

Massa, who was testing Ferrari's aero package ahead of the team's home grand prix next month, set the fastest time of 1:23.428. The Brazilian was also the busiest man on a hot and humid day in northern Italy, completing 101 laps.

However, McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen and Nico Rosberg from Williams were not far off his pace. In fact, the top three drivers were separated by just 0.033 seconds with Kovalainen just over a hundredth slower.

Another man who performed admirably in Valencia, Sebastian Vettel, also had an excellent day. The Toro Rosso driver was 0.230 off Rosberg's pace while Honda's Rubens Barrichello completed the top five.

It was another disappointing day for BMW's Nick Heidfeld. The German was down in seventh place.

Times:
01 F. Massa Ferrari 1:23.428 101 laps
02 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:23.439 78 laps
03 N. Rosberg Williams 1:23.461 60 laps
04 S.Vettel Toro Rosso 1:23.691 99 laps
05 R. Barrichello Honda 1:23.827 85 laps
06 M. Webber Red Bull 1:24.005 96 laps
07 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:24.075 77 laps
08 V. Liuzzi Force India 1:24.239 99 laps
09 J. Trulli Toyota 1:24.510 92 laps
10 N. Piquet Renault 1:24.546 117 laps