Sauber Kick Off Four-Day Test at Paul Ricard - Day One

Brazilian Felipe Massa began on Tuesday a four-day test at the Paul Ricard circuit, where the young Sauber star drove for the first time.

"It's been enjoyable to come here to learn another new track, and I really like the long back straight," said Massa. "The weather has been great and today I didn't have to worry about traffic since I was the only car out there! We did a lot of good work today and the C21 worked perfectly."

Massa, who retired from the Austrian Grand Prix last Sunday, completed 81 laps around the French track, setting a quickest time of 1:38.940. The Sauber team will be joined tomorrow by Toyota.

"It's been very instructive to come here to Paul Ricard to test," added Jacky Eeckelaert, head of vehicle engineering. "It's a very good track for this work, and will be better still tomorrow when more cars are running, as the track surface was still a little bit dirty with just Felipe running today.

"We completed a programme of aerodynamic work in preparation for Monte Carlo and Montreal, and Felipe was able to cover one and a half Grand Prix distances without any problems at all."

Teammate Nick Heidfeld, who is now fully recovered from his accident in Austria, will drive tomorrow and again on Friday. Heidfeld underwent a check-up at the University Hospital in Zurich yesterday and an intensive course of physiotherapy on a bruised left knee today, with team physio Josef Leberer.