Felipe Massa

Ferrari’s hopes of racing with their KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) at the start of the season have been boosted, with the team’s senior engineer suggesting progress with the device is going ‘in the best possible way.’

The Maranello-based team openly admitted at the end of last year that they felt they were behind with the progress of their system compared to their rivals – especially BMW Sauber, who are believed to be most advanced with the new technology.

But following some encouraging progress with the device during testing at Mugello in Italy this week, the indications are that the team could be further down the road with it than originally thought.

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The Ferrari team on Thursday completed their four-day testing session at the Mugello circuit in Italy.

Felipe Massa took over from teammate Kimi Raikkonen at the wheel of the F60, as the weather finally allowed the team to carry out significant work.

Massa was able to run with dry weather tyres from late in the morning, and the Brazilian covered 103 laps with a best time of 1:23.981.

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Ferrari continued working with their new F60 car at Mugello, where the Italian squad were again hampered by the poor weather.

The circuit was wet throughout the whole day, as Kimi Raikkonen drove the new car for the second time.

The Finn covered 42 laps with a best time of 1:33.920 and, despite the weather, the former was champion was positive.

“It’s always nice to drive a new car for the first time,” said Raikkonen. “Unfortunately, because of the weather, we were not able to push to the limit, but these things happen.

“All the same, first impressions are positive and, above all, it’s important that we didn’t have any particular technical problems.”

Teammate Felipe Massa will replace Raikkonen tomorrow.

The Ferrari team completed on Monday their first proper test with the new F60 car at the Mugello circuit.

The Italian squad were originally scheduled to test at the Portimao circuit, but decided to stay in Italy because of the poor weather forecast in Portugal.

However, the weather was no better at Mugello, and the first test was affected by rain all day.

Kimi Raikkonen took to the track with the F60 for the first time to complete 54 laps with a best time of 1:34.430.

The team reported no technical problems.

Raikkonen will continue testing at Mugello tomorrow.

The emergence of the Formula One Teams’ Association has thrust Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo to the forefront of the debates over the future shape of the grand prix racing.

Just before Christmas, he called for Bernie Ecclestone to redistribute more of F1′s revenue to the teams, and received a blunt response from Ecclestone highlighting how much extra finance Ferrari already receive – but there was no sign of bad blood when Ecclestone put in a surprise appearance at Ferrari’s annual Madonna di Campiglio ski camp in Italy this week.

Later in the event, di Montezemolo addressed the media and spoke about Ecclestone’s criticisms for the first time, as well as sharing his thoughts on F1′s future, Ron Dennis’s decision to step down as McLaren team principal, and addressing the Fernando Alonso question once again…

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Ferrari have decided to switch the first fully-fledged test of their new F60 from Portimao in Portugal to their Mugello test track in Italy next week.

The Maranello-based team had been scheduled to join most other teams in running at the new Algarve circuit, but a team spokesman has confirmed that poor weather forecasts for Portugal have forced a change of plan.

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