Massa happy with new Sauber

Giancarlo Fisichella completed the first two days running in the new machine, but handed over to his Brazilian team-mate today. Massa completed 65 laps, setting a best time of 1m11.270s. His running was curtailed by a fuel pressure problem just after 4pm.

"My first impression of the car was very good," Massa told autosport.com. "I can feel much more grip than in the old car. I suppose it's more friendly to drive.

"It wasn't an easy day because in the afternoon the wind picked up and I had a slight seating problem. I am just sitting too low in the car, but the team is doing further modifications in time for the Barcelona test. We've already started playing with the set-up of the car. It wasn't an easy day, but it was a good day."

Sauber technical director Willi Rampf declared himself happy with the car's initial test.

"Overall, we're quite satisfied following three days of testing," he told autosport.com. "We've done just over 180 laps with no major problems, aside from a slight fuel pressure problem. The first impression of the drivers is very important, and compared to the C22 both drivers gave very positive feedback and are happy with the characteristics of the car.

"The lap-time we've achieved is quite acceptable - it's in a good range, but we can't compare it to the competition because ours was the only car running here. We'll have a better idea when we get to Barcelona when more teams are running, but we'll only know for sure in Melbourne."