Massa happy with Ferrari V8

The Brazilian driver completed on Thursday a two-day test at Vallelunga, where he worked with Ferrari for the first time since he was announced as Michael Schumacher's teammate.

"It was fun, I expected worse. I like it," Massa told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Obviously there's still a lot of work to do, but it seems very driveable.

"It's definitely better than I expected. Compared to the V10 it's pretty different: with two cylinders less there's a lot less power, but it's fast anyway. After having got used to a lot of horsepower, I feared a big worsening.

"I'm happy about how testing has gone: two sunny days and lots of kilometres done. And every lap I learned something on the car."

Massa also played down fears that the car would be boring to drive on fast circuits.

"In my opinion we'll have fun anyway," he said. "We'll have a set up with less downforce and we'll be able to go fairly fast. Obviously not as much as this year."

Massa was a tester for Ferrari in 2003, but he claims working as a racing driver has increased the excitement.

"Every start is exciting. It was also nice when I was just a tester, but now the sensations are stronger."