The Scuderia Ferrari team and Felipe Massa completed their second day of Formula One winter testing at Jerez on Wednesday. 

Massa has now wrapped-up his testing stint as Thursday sees teammate Fernando Alonso take over the development work on the new F2012 car. Unlike yesterday though, today saw Felipe finally share his thoughts on the car that could help extend his contract with the Gestione Sportiva at year’s end.  

The Scuderia continued their test programme started yesterday (see Girlracer home page for full F1 news updates) and at the end of the day Massa appeared satisfied with the work he had completed. Still, the Brazilian pointed out that the more advanced F2012 called for a change in routine than seen in previous winter tests.    

“These two days have been different to usual, at least compared to what we’ve been used to at the start of previous years,” said Massa. “This car is packed with elements that need plenty of fine tuning and they are different to what we had on previous cars. We concentrated on setting up a lot of specific points and there is still a lot to do: as usual, some things work the way they should, others less so. For example, I did a lot of laps at constant speed to gather information on the aerodynamics and on the general handling, because we need to be sure of the direction in which we need to go on the development front.”

The Brazilian was encouraged with the results produced so far with the new car but cautioned that much work still lies ahead.

“We made some set-up changes from yesterday to today and the results this produced were what we had expected. It’s important that this happened, as it means the car is reacting in the right way. Obviously, there is still a lot to do, maybe more than we had expected before we started, but we are definitely not scared of hard work!

“I think the F2012 could well suit my driving style better than the previous car: for example, there is much less understeer. It’s only a case of working on it calmly and with concentration and that’s what we will continue to do over the next few days when Fernando drives. I think this car has great potential, also taking into account the point we are at now.” 

Many have been quick to criticize the look of the new cars, especially the Ferrari, with the radical looking “stepped noses,” an unfortunate case of function over form and FIA regulation. So did Massa think the F2012 less easy on the eye shall we say than Maranello’s previous F1 challengers?  

Is this the ugliest Ferrari I’ve ever driven? I don’t know, as from the cockpit you can’t see the front wing and therefore not the step either: but definitely from the outside, it’s not the prettiest…” 

See my earlier article, Felipe Massa surprisingly quiet after first F2012 drive, http://www.girlracer.co.uk/live-blogs/entry/ferrari--massa-quiet-after-first-f2012-test.html