Ferrari Barcelona test notes 2009-03-12

Tests at Barcelona concluded

Barcelona, 12th March 2009 - Today the 4-day test sessions at the Circuit de Catalunya ended for the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and all the other teams participating in the 2009 F1 World Championships.

Just like yesterday also today Felipe Massa went on the track. The Brazilian driver had to compare different setups for the Ferrrari F60 and test some new solutions for the car's development. Felipe drove 92 laps, the fastest in a time of 1.20.677.

"I think that we've done some pretty good work in this session. Obviously there were some minor problems on the second and third day, but yesterday I drove the distance of one and a half races all in one go without getting out of the car and also today I drove many miles. Over these 20 days of tests we were able to improve our car a lot in every respect. Today we're where we thought we would be before the start at Melbourne," Felipe said to the press before he left the circuit. "As far as the performance is concerned I'm really satisfied with our competitiveness compared to all the others, except obviously Brawn GP, who were unreachable for all of us. Right now we're not the fastest car on the track, what I might have said before the tests here at Barcelona: we'll see how it works out in Australia. What I think about McLaren and Brawn GP? I can't reply to that, because I don't know the details. I can just look at the lap times and what we see from the outside. As far as the aerodynamic solutions are concerned I can only say that I'm not the one to comment on that. First of all I'm not an engineer, but a driver and then there's a Federation, which has the task to see if everything is alright or not."

A curious fact: after the snow, the sandstorm, the wind and the rain today there was fog accompanying the drivers during the morning. In the morning the visibility was extremely scarce until after 10am and the track was only open for the "out-ins" to start work. Later on the situation improved and the sun came out. One thing is for sure: the weather didn't help the teams to make the most out of the 20 days of testing.

-credit: ferrari