Felipe Massa

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.

“It was a difficult winter for everyone but Read the rest of this entry »

Felipe Massa marked his official return to contemporary Formula 1 machinery with the fastest time on the first morning of pre-season testing at Valencia in Spain on Monday.

Having seen early shakedown plans for his new Ferrari F10 abandoned because of bad weather in Italy over the weekend, Massa gave an early indication about the promise of his team’s 2010 challenger with a strong run early on.

Although testing times are not necessarily truly representative of form, Ferrari will at least be encouraged by the fact that the car has appeared to hit the ground running on the opening day of this three-day test.

Less than two-tenths behind Massa’s best lap of 1m13.088s was Pedro de la Rosa in the BMW Sauber C29, showing that his team’s lack of sponsors and BMW works involvement have not been a hindrance to the efforts made over the winter to produce the new car.

Third fastest Nico Rosberg Read the rest of this entry »

Felipe Massa has revealed that he quizzed Nelson Piquet Jr and Flavio Briatore about the events of the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix even before the scandal broke, having always been sceptical about Piquet’s incident in that race.

Massa was leading in Singapore until the safety car came out due to Piquet’s deliberate crash. A disastrous pitstop during the caution period then delayed Massa and left him unable to score in the race.

He subsequently lost that year’s world championship to Lewis Hamilton by a single point.

Speaking to reporters at a Ferrari media event in Italy, Massa said he had put his suspicions to Piquet prior to the truth about the incident being revealed.

“I spoke to him, yeah. I spoke to him before [it became public],” said Massa. “We were going together to drive go-karts in Italy and I asked him about Singapore – I wanted to hear the right story because I was thinking that the combination [of events] was so perfect [for Renault], what happened in that race.

“And he was laughing, he didn’t want to say the truth. I said Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Schumacher says that Ferrari will always have a place in his heart, following his 14 years with the marque before joining Mercedes GP.

In an open letter to Ferrari fans distributed through the Italian media, Schumacher pays tribute to the prancing horse and its followers and says he hopes they will carry on supporting him in future.

“For 14 years I was a part of Ferrari and for 14 years Ferrari was a part of me,” he said. “A sizeable chunk of Ferrari will always stay in my heart. I will always think of the warmth, the strength and the dedication I received for so many years from Italian Ferrari fans.

“I have felt welcomed by you, and I have tried to give Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Schumacher says he is gunning for the ’serious stuff’ of fighting for the world championship on his F1 return in 2010.

The seven-time champion has signed a three-year deal to join Mercedes GP for next season, marking an F1 comeback after three years on the sidelines.

Although he will be the oldest driver on the grid when the season kicks off in Bahrain, Schumacher said on Wednesday that he is not coming back simply to have fun.

On the back of Brawn GP having captured both world titles in 2009 prior to its takeover by Mercedes-Benz, Schumacher has his sights set on adding more wins and championships to his tally.

“It [Mercedes GP] is a team that has Read the rest of this entry »

Sebastian Vettel led Mark Webber in a Red Bull one-two as the team completed its domination of the final part of the 2009 season by winning the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The result also confirmed Vettel as championship runner-up behind Jenson Button (Brawn), who took only his second podium of the second half of the year in third, right behind Webber after a fraught late battle.

Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton had to retire early with brake problems.

The outgoing champion had been tipped to dominate following his absolute command of qualifying and much of practice, but looked vulnerable from the outset. He was unable to get away from the two Red Bulls, and had difficulty slowing his McLaren from the early stages, even before his team radioed him to warn of a right rear brake issue.

The Brawns were also able to match Hamilton’s pace, with Rubens Barrichello falling behind Button on the opening lap after losing a chunk of front wing in a Turn 1 brush with Webber.

Hamilton stayed ahead of Webber at the first stops, but Read the rest of this entry »