F1: Massa dominates day 1 morning for Ferrari

Written by: The Paddock Staff
Date: Feb. 1, 2010

If Ferrari’s Felipe Massa wanted to prove he hasn’t changed since his life-threatening accident last July, he did a very good job on Monday morning in Valencia, topping the timesheets as this year’s opening test got underway at the Spanish track. Massa covered 32 laps in the new F10, clocking a best time of 1m 13.088s.

Second quickest was Pedro de la Rosa for BMW Sauber. De la Rosa, who has opted to forsake his long-held test role at McLaren for a chance to race at the Swiss team, will no doubt be pleased with the maiden showing of his C29, after he ended the morning under two-tenths down on Massa’s Ferrari.

Nico Rosberg clinched the third slot as he made his debut outing for new team Mercedes. Covering 39 laps in the W01, the young German is expected to hand the car over to team mate Michael Schumacher in the afternoon. Fourth quickest was McLaren tester Gary Paffett, who was charged with giving the MP4-25 its maiden run and completed 34 laps.

When Paffett took a break for lunch he was over four-tenths clear of Rubens Barrichello in the new Williams FW32. Barrichello, who completed 42 laps during the morning, finished ahead of sixth-placed Robert Kubica for Renault and seventh-placed Sebastien Buemi for Toro Rosso.

Unofficial Monday morning test times from Valencia:
1. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:13.088, 32 Laps
2. Pedro de la Rosa, BMW Sauber, 1:13.247, 27 Laps
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:13.543, 39 Laps
4. Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:14.018, 34 Laps
5. Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:14.449, 42 Laps
6. Robert Kubica, Renault, 1:15.298, 37 Laps
7. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 1:19.279, 10 Laps