Massa Outpaced at Monza - Day One
Felipe Massa was left in the shade by Rubens Barrichello, the man he is replacing at Ferrari next year, during his first day back testing for the Maranello team at Monza in Italy today
The former Ferrari test driver was handed a standard F2005 with control tyres in a bid to re-acquaint himself with the team prior to his arrival as a race driver next season.
Massa's best lap of 1:23.461 was almost one second slower than the outgoing Rubens Barrichello, who was focusing on tyre development work for the Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari had exclusive use of the track.
"I am happy to be driving again for Ferrari," Massa told Autosport-Atlas. "In the morning I just familialised myself with the car and in the afternoon I did some set up work."
Ferrari and Bridgestone are clearly pulling out all the stops in a bid to resurrect their season, with sources claiming that the team is evaluating up to 15 different compound and constructions for the Monza race - having already narrowed down their selection following recent testing at Fiorano.
The day was relatively incident free, with the only red flag coming out when Felipe Massa stopped with a broken engine.
Ferrari will be joined by every other team on the grid, apart from Minardi, from tomorrow.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:22.506 94 2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:23.461 61
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| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Felipe Massa |
| Author | Jonathan Noble |
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