wederom ben ik de visionair.....oftewel de Nostradamus van de autoport!
bron: autosport.com
Sauber happy with Massa in first F1 test
Euro F3000 champ looks to fill Raikkonen's place
Good work by Massa in his first F1 outing
Brazilian Felipe Massa got to grips with the power of a Formula 1 car for the first time on Wednesday, with the 20-year-old from Sao Paulo impressing bosses at Sauber after just two days of testing at Mugello in Italy.
Massa, the Euro Formula 3000 series champion, completed more than 100 laps of the Italian circuit and set a best time of 1m23.79s in his Ferrari-powered C20, leaving technical director Willy Rampf impressed by his efforts.
"It was a pleasure to work with him," said Rampf. "He was very focussed and we were pleased that he did not fall into the trap that is common with inexperienced drivers of trying to run too long on each outing. His times came down very nicely.
"Felipe had a steep learning curve to climb during the test, but his confidence led us to ask him to contribute this afternoon to our preparation programme for next week's US GP."
Massa had been handed the Sauber test as the team searches for a replacement for Kimi Raikkonen, who switches to the McLaren team next year. Team boss Peter Sauber is known to be interested in the youngster and Massa said he already feels comfortable with the team.
"I am happy with the way I've been welcomed by the entire team," said Massa. "I felt very at home, even though I had never met anyone from the team.
"I have a lot to learn about F1 and the C20, but I liked the speed and I've been getting used to it. Even a painful neck I had yesterday vanished as the session went on. And today I have improved on the high-speed corners and in the esses as well."
Team regular Nick Heidfeld is taking over for the remaining two days of running as the Hinwill-based squad is loathe to let McLaren-bound Raikkonen help with any work on development parts.