Felipe Massa has experienced impressive reliability and strong pace in the new Ferrari © Sutton Images
Felipe Massa says the Ferrari upgrade package has given the team a clear step forward, but still names Red Bull as the favourite ahead of the new season.
Ferrari brought a new exhaust system and aerodynamic package to test at Barcelona, one that they expect to run at the first race in Australia at the end of March. And Massa was pleased with how the additions were working on the car.
"It's better, just more downforce on the car, and the more downforce you have, the better, especially with these tyres that degrade quite a lot," he said. "It was a big package. It works well. I think it will be more or less the package for the race, so now we're working hard for the next improvement, as we know how important that is during the championship. But what we brought here was an improvement and the car is just better - better grip, better downforce."
Despite the encouraging progress, and a slightly quicker lap time than Mark Webber, Massa still felt that Red Bull is the team to beat.
"First of all it's the team who won last year," he said. "And second, they are very quick here. Yesterday Sebastian [Vettel] did a very quick time, so I point to Red Bull."
Red Bull's one-lap pace was particularly impressive in 2010, but Massa said that while that gap may have closed, last season's constructors' champions looked strong over a race distance.
"Last year they had a very quick car so even if we improved more in qualifying compared to the race it was not easy to beat them. This year it's a little bit more difficult to know, because I saw some long runs from them - degrading as well, but it was quick even at the end, so I think it's very difficult to say now. We need to wait until we have everybody together at the same time with the same fuel, the same tyres."
Credit: ESPN F1 (en.espnf1.com)
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