Massa puts Ferrari P1

[davewilson]

Ferrari's Felipe Massa lead the way on day two of testing at Jerez on Wednesday, and while conditions remained generally good, there was some rain towards the end of the day.


The Brazilian, who had to sit out the action on Tuesday due to a fever, managed 46 laps in total, his best time being a one minute 19.746 seconds, a tenth or so up on the second-placed Lewis Hamilton.

Massa was continuing to work on the development of the Scuderia's new car, with Kimi Raikkonen finishing fifth on the timesheets in another F2007.

Indeed although the Finn also did 46 laps, he was delayed somewhat by an undisclosed technical problem, which stopped him on track.

Hamilton continued with work started on Tuesday, namely focusing on set-up and aerodynamics, as well as doing an assessment of the brakes and power steering. He did 109 laps in total, his best time being a 1m 19.821s.

Team-mate Fernando Alonso took over the sister MP4-22 from test driver Pedro de la Rosa, and he also managed over 100 laps despite stopping on track during the afternoon with a 'momentary loss of oil pressure'.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica was third overall, with the Pole performing a set-up scan in the morning and then continuing with an aerodynamic evaluation.

He then compared different mechanical components and completed his programme by doing long-runs. In total Kubica notched up 96 tours and was nearly a second faster than team-mate Nick Heidfeld, who ended the day 12th.

Heidfeld, who took over from Sebastian Vettel, spent the first part of the day working on set-up. He then did aerodynamic comparisons, systems checks and tested different brake coolings.

Heidfeld will continue in his F1.07 on Thursday, while Kubica hands over his car to Timo Glock, who is due to get his first go in the 2007 spec machine.

Nelson Piquet Jr was sixth for Renault, the Brazilian combining with Ricardo Zonta to put another 162 tours on the board. Piquet worked on set-up over short runs, while Zonta, who was seven tenths slower, focused on evaluating different aerodynamic configurations, as well as doing some brake testing.

Williams team-mates Alexander Wurz and Nico Rosberg were seventh and eighth respectively, both posting a 1 minute 20.1 second lap, the former being quicker by less than one hundredth. Wurz managed 78 laps in his FW29, while Rosberg did 66.

Toyota's Ralf Schumacher and Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber rounded out the top ten, both having minor issues which meant they stopped out on the track. Webber was again struggling to do many laps and ended the day with just 36 'on the board'.

Team-mate David Coulthard did not fare that much better, the Scot completing 48 tours in his RB3 to end the day 11th quickest.

Honda's Jenson Button was near the bottom of the timesheets in 13th, while Marco Andretti was slowest on his second outing with the Brackley-based outfit.

Andretti did 74 laps in total, just over a second slower than Toyota's Jarno Trulli, who ended the day 15th overall on a 1m 20.898s.

Testing is now due to conclude on Thursday.


Leading times (February 7) - Jerez:

1. Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 19.746secs 46 laps
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1min 19.821secs 109 laps
3. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber-BMW 1min 19.839secs 96 laps
4. Fernando Alonso McLaren-Mercedes 1min 20.046secs 101 laps
5. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 20.068secs 46 laps
6. Nelson Piquet Jr Renault-Renault 1min 20.070secs 76 laps
7. Alex Wurz Williams-Toyota 1min 20.132secs 78 laps
8. Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1min 20.143secs 66 laps
9. Ralf Schumacher Toyota-Toyota 1min 20.604secs 59 laps
10. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1min 20.629secs 36 laps
11. David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1min 20.702secs 48 laps
12. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber-BMW 1min 20.710secs 80 laps
13. Jenson Button Honda-Honda 1min 20.75'secs 100 laps
14. Ricardo Zonta Renault-Renault 1min 20.767secs 86 laps
15. Jarno Trulli Toyota-Toyota 1min 20.898secs 80 laps
16. Marco Andretti Honda-Honda 1min 22.151secs 74 laps



Track conditions: Sunny in the morning with track temperatures as high as 28.5° Celsius and ambient temperatures reaching 18.8°. Overcast in the afternoon and then some rain.


All times unofficial - courtesy of the official Circuito de Jerez website

The Stig