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Massa quickest on Pirelli test day one

Ferrari's Felipe Massa topped the first day of Pirelli tyre testing in Abu Dhabi, the first time that Formula 1 teams have tried the Italian manufacturer's new-for-2011 rubber

The Brazilian complained throughout the 2010 season that tyre warm-up struggles were to blame for his poor qualifying performances, saying recently that "I'm sure if I fix the big problem I had this year I will be back in the fight." By topping the first test on the new tyres, he got his preparations for next season off to a perfect start.

The Brazilian set a best time of 1m40.170s to displace world champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) at the top of the timesheets during the afternoon session. Massa's time was two tenths slower than that of Ferrari tester Jules Bianchi from the recent young driver test and half a second off team-mate Fernando Alonso's qualifying lap for the recent Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Vettel was only three tenths off Massa and seven tenths ahead of McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, who is driving in place of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button throughout the tyre test.

Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi was fourth-fastest ahead of Renault's Robert Kubica, who only completed 39 laps after hitting mechanical trouble, with Rubens Barrichello ending the day sixth fastest for Williams. The vastly experienced Brazilian completed almost 100 laps during the day, spending the morning concentrating on assessing the aerodynamic impact of the new tyres before working on tyre behaviour in the afternoon.

Scottish rising star Paul di Resta, who beat Vettel to the 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series title, ended up seventh-fastest despite not hitting the track until the late afternoon. Force India suffered an exhaust problem in the morning while Adrian Sutil was behind the wheel and spent much of the day rebuilding its car.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was eighth-fastest on the first day of a vital test for Mercedes, which struggled with tyre use all year. He outpaced Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), who was the first driver to take to the track in the morning.

Sutil ended the day 10th fastest, only completing 20 laps, with Virgin's Timo Glock ending the day best of the new teams ahead of Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus).

Williams aspirant Pastor Maldonado continued his week of testing with a second day at HRT. He ended the day under nine tenths off Kovalainen.

The session was red-flagged with two minutes to go when Vettel stopped following a tyre failure on the right rear. Pirelli is investigating the cause, which was the first failure it has suffered since it began testing its 2011 F1 rubber.

Pos  Driver              Car          Time       Laps
 1.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari      1m40.170s  94
 2.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull     1m40.500s  77
 3.  Gary Paffett        McLaren      1m40.874s  94
 4.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber       1m40.950s  83
 5.  Robert Kubica       Renault      1m41.032s  39
 6.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams     1m41.425s  91
 7.  Paul di Resta       Force India  1m41.615s  20
 8.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes     1m41.778s  81
 9.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso   1m42.019s  71
10.  Adrian Sutil        Force India  1m42.859s  20
11.  Timo Glock          Virgin       1m44.124s  78
12.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus        1m44.686s  88
13.  Pastor Maldonado    Hispania     1m45.728s  83

All timing unofficial

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