Massa fastest again in Sakhir

It was the Honda of Jenson Button, however, who set the pace of the V8-engined cars.

Massa worked with the F2004 car fitted with the V10 engine, focusing again on tyre testing and car set-up.

World Champion Michael Schumacher, who yesterday hit trouble in the new 248 F1 car, had another short day of work, the German covering just 23 laps as he only ran late in the afternoon. Schumacher will be in action again tomorrow.

Button, who had another busy day with 133 laps covered, was second quickest in the first of the RA106 cars from Honda, while teammate Rubens Barrichello finished in fourth.

The Toro Rosso team wrapped up their four-day test, with Vitantonio Liuzzi and Scott speed sharing testing duties with the RB1 car.

Liuzzi was in action in the morning while Speed took over in the afternoon to complete the programme, the Italian posting a promising third fastest time in the V10-powered car.

"First we went through a qualifying run to get everyone used to the new system for Saturday afternoons and then we repeated it with a different strategy," explained chief engineer Lauren Mekies. "Then Tonio did a couple of long runs, twenty laps each with refueling and tyre changing pit stops. Tonio did a fantastic job.

"The track conditions were very different in the afternoon, with the wind changing direction and it allowed us a good insight into what to do with the car if this should happen over the race weekend.

"Scott also did a good job and, over the four days as a whole, we completed a good mileage and the team of mechanics and engineers worked very well.

"We are still quite a way from where we want to be, but we are making progress."

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1:30.578   90
 2.  Button        Honda                (M)  1:31.261  133
 3.  Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  1:31.385   56
 4.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  1:31.590   97
 5.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  1:32.623   62
 6.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  1:32.909   23

All Timing Unofficial