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Formula One
F1: Massa Fastest On His Return To Ferrari
Felipe Massa led the way at Valencia Monday...
Adam Cooper  | http://www.speedtv.com  |  Posted February 01, 2010   Valencia (ESP)
In his first time back in an up to date car since a crash last season, Felipe Massa led the speed charts Monday at Valencia. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
In his first time back in an up to date car since a crash last season, Felipe Massa led the speed charts Monday and Tuesday at first winter test session in Valencia. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Felipe Massa was fastest for Ferrari as seven teams gave their 2010 cars their first proper outings in Valencia Monday.

Massa enjoyed his first proper test day back in a contemporary car, and he made it very clear that he was much happier with the new machine than he was at the same point last year. The Brazilian ran 103 laps of the track without major dramas.

As this was the first day the teams focused on shaking down their cars and running systems checks. A further complication this year is the switch to no refueling during races. The huge weight differential means that lap times can vary as much as 4-5 seconds between full tanks and near empty qualifying spec, so it’s extremely hard to know what the teams are up to.

Pedro de la Rosa was at or near the top of the time all day as the new Ferrari-engined Sauber ran very well all day. However the big story was Michael Schumacher’s first outing for Mercedes. He took over the car in the afternoon and quickly usurped team mate Nico Rosberg’s time as he took third overall for the day.

Also in action Monday were McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, Rubens Barrichello in the Williams, Robert Kubica in the Renault, and Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso.

Barrichello lost some track time after stopping with a throttle problem, while Buemi did very little running due to gearbox problems.

Testing continues on Tuesday, when the major novelty will be Lewis Hamilton’s first run in the 2010 McLaren.

Unofficial Monday test times from Valencia:

1. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:12.574, 102 Laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:12.784, 74 Laps
3. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes GP, 1:12.947, 40 Laps
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:13.543, 39 Laps
5. Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:13.846, 86 Laps
6. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:14.449, 75 Laps
7. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:14.762, 18 Laps
8. Robert Kubica, Renault, 1:15.000, 69 Laps

Photo Gallery: Day one of the 2010 Valencia testing session

Adam Cooper notched up his 25th season as a racing journalist in 2009. Born in London, England, he saw his first F1 race at age 10 in 1976. He began freelancing for Autosport magazine in 1985 and was on the fulltime staff from 1987-92. He then went freelance again, initially spending two years in Japan before following the 1994 Champcar series from a base in Indianapolis. He has not missed a Grand Prix since Suzuka ‘94, a run that has extended to Abu Dhabi ’09. Adam has written books about Eddie Irvine, Piers Courage and Michael Schumacher and hosts a race preview show on Sirius XM. He has written about F1 for SPEEDtv.com since 2005.

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