Imola 1: Massa fastest

The Brazilian tried a new front wing design recently developed in Sauber's wind tunnel, and also evaluated Michelin tyre compounds for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Massa's time of 1m23.485s was 0.3s faster than team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, who continued to experiment with the set-up of his car as well as conducting traction control testing.

Recently signed Patrick Friesacher was marginally the quicker of the two Minardi drivers, as both the Austrian and Christijan Albers lapped around 2s off Sauber's pace while working on tyre and aerodynamic developments on the modified Minardi PS04B.

"I'm very happy with the way things have gone today, particularly since this is only my second time in a Minardi since the Misano test," said Friesacher. "I gained more confidence in the car with each lap. We did a long run this afternoon, aimed at tyre evaluation, and apart from getting some good information, it also gave me a chance to test my fitness, which, I'm pleased to say, seems good.

"We finished the day without any problems, and I have to thank the whole team for their efforts - the atmosphere is fantastic. I can't wait to get to Melbourne."

"Both drivers did good, solid jobs today, and there was nothing between them in terms of lap times, even though they were on different programmes," added Minardi's team manager Massimo Rivola.

Minardi has now completed its pre-season testing, while the Sauber duo remain at Imola for a further day.



Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas) 1m23.485s
Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber-Petronas) 1m23.777s
Patrick Friesacher (Minardi-Cosworth) 1m25.883s
Christijan Albers (Minardi-Cosworth) 1m25.983s