Mixed fortunes for Ferrari in Bahrain

After Luca Badoer posted the fastest time both on Monday and Tuesday, today it was Felipe Massa with the V10-powered F2004 who finished on top.

Massa was joined by German Michael Schumacher, who replaced the Brazilian at the wheel of the 248 F1 car.

Schumacher, however, did not enjoy a good day and his programme was cut short when he suffered a mechanical problem in the morning. The former World Champion completed just 37 laps and finished over two seconds behind Massa.

Honda drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button continued carrying out testing duties for the team, both driving the RA106 car. The team were again the fastest of the V8 runners, with Button outpacing Barrichello be less than three tenths of a second.

Swiss driver Neel Jani took over from teammate Tonio Liuzzi at the wheel of the Toro Rosso RB1, the test driver returning to the wheel of a Formula One car for the first time in almost a year.

"Until today, I only had a thousand F1 kilometres under my belt, some of it dating back to 2004," Jani said. "So today, I was getting used to the speed and the braking power and especially the cornering - at first you think the car can't go through the turn at that speed, but you have to tell yourself it does, and it does.

"I really enjoyed myself and look forward to my next test in Imola."

Jani spent the day getting used to the RB1, covering a total of 76 laps.

"We sent him out on track with the set-up we had established over the past two days," added team Principal Franz Tost. "After a while, we started making small changes to the aero settings, the ride height and weight distribution, so that Neel could feel the effect of these changes. He did a good job today."

Today's times:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  1:30.029   92
 2.  Button        Honda                (M)  1:31.278  140
 3.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  1:31.640  102
 4.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  1:32.229   37
 5.  Jani          Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  1:33.028   76

All Timing Unofficial