Fernando Alonso will kick off Ferrari’s testing on his home ground at Jerez in Spain this week, driving for the first two days before handing the car over to Felipe Massa.
The Spaniard was fastest of all in last week’s first pre-season test at Valencia, with the early indications suggesting that Ferrari has an early edge in its preparations for the 2010 season.
The F10 will feature a few mechanical updates for this week’s run, with the team not intending to bring any aerodynamic improvements until the next Jerez test – when the team is expected to use its second chassis for the first time.
The Jerez test is set to feature 10 teams – with Force India, Virgin Racing and Red Bull Racing joining the seven current outfits who tested at Valencia.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo says he will not get carried away with his team’s results in the first pre-season test – which saw Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso top the times comfortably on all three days at Valencia this week.
After the test Ferrari’s technical personnel were keen to underline that it was too soon to make definitive judgements about form, and di Montezemolo says he shares their caution.
“I’m happy to see that our car looks like it was born well,” he was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. “But this pre-season testing is like football in August. I think that the only positive aspect is the feeling that the car was born well.
Ferrari says it does not have a clue how quick its new F10 is compared to the opposition – and thinks it may take a few more tests to fully find out.
Despite Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso leading the way in this week’s first pre-season F1 test in Valencia, Ferrari is remaining cautious about what the early indications are of the 2010 cars.
And with the team vowing to wait for one more further test before adding aerodynamic improvements to its car, the clear picture of form may not become clear for a while.
Technical director Aldo Costa told the official Ferrari website: “We see that we are fast but we don’t know how much we are fast compared to the others.
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali says he is not getting carried away by his team’s strong start to pre-season testing this week.
Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso dominated proceedings at Valencia in Spain with both drivers the only men to lap under the 1m12s barrier. Alonso ended up quickest of all with a best time of 1m11.470s.
But despite that performance, Domenicali is still wary of the team’s opposition – and thinks the characteristics of Valencia, allied to hugely varying fuel loads, mean the picture from testing is still not clear.
“There are no miracles in Formula 1: if you want to be fast you have to work hard for months and months and then you’ll meet your competitors, who have as much capacities and are as motivated as you,” he told the official Ferrari website.
Seven Ferrari 599XX debuting on the Spanish Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. Exceptional guest at the event: Felipe Massa, who personally tested the new 12-cylinder Berlinetta planned for the race track. At the end of the video the Felipe Massa talks about the thrilling ride.
Felipe Massa helped Ferrari maintain its position as the team to beat on the second day of pre-season Formula 1 testing at Valencia in Spain on Tuesday.
The Brazilian, who had been quickest on the opening day of action on Monday, spent most of the day focusing on long runs – but had put in a quick time early in the morning running that no one else was able to beat.
His best effort of 1m11.722s seconds was set in the first hour of running, when BMW Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi also put in his personal best of 1m12.056s to set the second best time.
“It was definitely a good day,” said Kobayashi. “We had no problems with the car and covered a lot of mileage. The car felt good. I enjoyed driving a lot and also working with the team.
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