Formula 1

Ferrari tops first Valencia test day

Ferrari solidly topped test times as Formula One teams assembled for preseason testing in Valencia, Spain, on Tuesday. Working in sunny and dry conditions, Brazilian Felipe Massa drove 97 laps and posted the best of three sub-1 minute, 13-second ...

Published: Jan 23, 2008, 10:05 PM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Ferrari solidly topped test times as Formula One teams assembled for preseason testing in Valencia, Spain, on Tuesday.

Working in sunny and dry conditions, Brazilian Felipe Massa drove 97 laps and posted the best of three sub-1 minute, 13-second times, a 1:12.182 on the 4.005-kilometer (2.488-mile) circuit named after motorcyclist Ricardo Tormo. Massa's teammate, World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, followed in 1:12.721 posted during 105 laps as testing on the F2008s continued.

Felipe Massa, Scuderia Ferrari.

Photo by xpb.cc.

German Nico Rosberg, shepherding the debut of the Williams Toyota FW30, turned a 1:12.838 to separate the two Ferraris from the McLaren MP4-23s of Raikkonen's fellow Finn Heikki Kovalainen and Spanish test driving veteran Pedro de la Rosa of McLaren. Raikkonen (105), Kovalainen (104), and De la Rosa (114), were the only drivers to amass more than 100 laps each.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso, late of McLaren, put his Renault R28 behind the McLarens with a quick time of 1:13.315. He was followed by Kazuki Nakajima in a Williams FW29B (1:13.473).

Sam Michael, Williams technical director, pronounced the FW30 shakedown problem-free.

"After completing some further systems checks and mapping in the morning, (Nico) progressed onto long runs in the afternoon to check stabilized temperatures on the new cooling systems," Michael said. "No major problems were encountered, so it was a successful initial run. Meanwhile, Kazuki continued the reliability program with the FW29B."

BMW Sauber, too, reported a productive data-gathering day as Nick Heidfeld put the F1.08 through aerodynamic comparisons and suspension settings while test driver Marko Asmer ran the F1.07B-06 concentrating on systems checks and the standard electronic control unit (SECU). Heidfeld's top time was a 1:13.779, Asmer's a 1:13.669.

Also working through early testing in preparation for the March 16 opening race at Melbourne, Australia, were Sebastian Vettel (1:13.627) and Sebastien Bourdais (1:13.675) of Scuderia Toro Rosso, Jarno Trulli (1:13.820) and Timo Glock (1:14.096) of Toyota, David Coulthard of Red Bull (1:13.944), and test drivers Vitantonio Luizzi of Force India (1:15.095), and Alex Wurz of Honda (1:15.440).

Wurz, who retired from Williams last year only to reappear as a Honda test driver, drove the Honda RA107 in a so-called reference program before the new RA108 makes its track debut this week ahead of a launch ceremony Jan. 29 at Honda's United Kingdom headquarters in Brackley, England.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Renault R28 shakedown at Valencia

Next article Valencia test times 2008-01-22

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Felipe Massa



On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement

Formula 1

Formula 1

Italian GP

On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement



Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case

Formula 1

Formula 1

Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case



Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial

Formula 1

Formula 1

Las Vegas GP

Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial

More from

Ferrari



Why Ferrari must act now after its own 'Papaya Rules' moment

Formula 1

Mexican GP

Why Ferrari must act now after its own 'Papaya Rules' moment



Why Oliver Bearman is yet to be announced as a Haas driver for F1 2027

Formula 1

Mexican GP

Why Oliver Bearman is yet to be announced as a Haas driver for F1 2027



Charles Leclerc blames Mexico GP clash on track layout - Fred Vasseur disagrees

Formula 1

Formula 1

Mexican GP

Charles Leclerc blames Mexico GP clash on track layout - Fred Vasseur disagrees

Latest news



Liam Lawson’s remarkable form is giving Red Bull a headache for 2027

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Mexican GP

1 h

Liam Lawson’s remarkable form is giving Red Bull a headache for 2027



Hanley Motorsports announces multi-class IMSA arrival with BMW support and DXDT deal

IMSA

IMSA IMSA 1 h

Hanley Motorsports announces multi-class IMSA arrival with BMW support and DXDT deal



Why Ferrari must act now after its own 'Papaya Rules' moment

Formula 1

Mexican GP

Why Ferrari must act now after its own 'Papaya Rules' moment



Ryan Preece will switch to No. 6 for 2027 NASCAR Cup season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Martinsville II

3 h

Ryan Preece will switch to No. 6 for 2027 NASCAR Cup season

Feature

Discover prime content



Why Ferrari must act now after its own 'Papaya Rules' moment

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Filip Cleeren

Why Ferrari must act now after its own 'Papaya Rules' moment



Top 10 F1 cars of the 1960s

Formula 1

By Kevin Turner

Top 10 F1 cars of the 1960s



How Ryo Hirakawa performed on his surprise F1 debut in Mexico

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

How Ryo Hirakawa performed on his surprise F1 debut in Mexico



Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate

Formula 1

Mexican GP

By Stuart Codling

Lewis Hamilton needs “serious talks” with himself and his team-mate

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe