Massa positive despite disrupted test

The Italian squad have been hindered all week by poor weather at the Italian circuit, and Massa today crashed with the new F2007, causing heavy damage to the front end when he went off at the final corner.

Massa, however, says the test has been productive.

"Despite the rainy days we've had, in the end we managed to do some work," Massa told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Some laps in the dry, lots of laps in the wet and from this point of view it's a shame we couldn't do more work under normal conditions. At least we've done some laps and let's hope we'll do more next week.

"The impression on the new car is good. We've managed to find some good solutions with the set ups with consistent improvements. For sure this test has given us a good feeling in the dry, in finding a good balance immediately and doing many consecutive laps with no problems."

Ferrari repaired Massa's car and the Brazilian managed to return to the track in the afternoon, only to suffer a mechanical problem that put an end to his day's work.

Massa said that, despite the problems and the crash, he feels the team are already stronger than in 2006.

"It was a fairly normal off and I must say the barrier was very close [to the track]," he said of the accident. "The gravel trap didn't slow me down at all.

"We surely are at least at the same level as last year's car, but perhaps we've already improved on that. We don't yet have all the developments the car will have at the first race, and these new elements will let us improve a lot. But in my opinion we are already a step ahead, especially in the stability.

"In my opinion the new tyre is too different for us as well in order to be an advantage."

Massa covered a total of nine laps with a best time of 1:22.279. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen, driving last year's car, covered 52 with a best lap of 1:19.758.