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Massa fastest again on final day

Felipe Massa maintained Ferrari's domination on the final day of major pre-season testing at Bahrain on Thursday to comfortably head the timesheets

The Brazilian was evaluating an updated aerodynamic package on his F2007 and, although his best time was done on new tyres, it is understood it was not with a low qualifying-simulation level of fuel on board.

With the Ferrari's long run pace looking good as well, Massa was clearly full of confidence about how strong his team had ended testing.

"You don't just need a consistent car, you need a quick car," he said. "And here, we are quick and consistent."

Massa's closest challenger was Renault's Heikki Kovalainen, who ended the week with something to smile about following his spectacular crash on Tuesday. He did bring out a red flag, however, when he stopped on the track just after lunch.

The Finn was four tenths adrift of Massa, though, with teammate Giancarlo Fisichella a further one tenth of a second behind him.

With Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, who used the new F2007 aero package in the afternoon, fourth fastest, McLaren's Fernando Alonso was fifth quickest overall.

Honda Racing's Rubens Barrichello was sixth quickest, ahead of McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa.

Scott Speed delivered a fairly impressive performance for Scuderia Toro Rosso to set the eighth quickest time, just ahead of the sister Red Bull Racing of David Coulthard.

The final day of testing brought more frustration for BMW-Sauber, who are still beset by reliability issues despite having a quick car. Nick Heidfeld, who ended the day 10th overall, stopped on track at 4pm, with teammate Robert Kubica coming to a halt 15 minutes before the end of the day.

Super Aguri also hit trouble, having to pack up early after Takuma Sato damaged the monocoque by going over a kerb.

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Car                      Time     Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:29.989   45
 2.  Kovalainen    Renault             (B)  1:30.384   61
 3.  Fisichella    Renault             (B)  1:30.498   64
 4.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:30.534   77
 5.  Alonso        McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:30.564  113
 6.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:31.067  118
 7.  De la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:31.354   90
 8.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:31.500  124
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:31.589   66
10.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:31.720   83
11.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:31.742   92
12.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:31.751   98
13.  R.Schumacher  Toyota              (B)  1:31.791   81
14.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:31.837   97
15.  Montagny      Toyota              (B)  1:32.264  119
16.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda   (B)  1:33.357   53

 

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