700km in one day. But is the Ferrari fast?

On the final day of this test session at Jerez, on Feb 13 Ferrari had racked up over 700km in testing, and overall had put the car through a rigorous program which the car has thus far done flawlessly and without any reliability problems. However, the same question still remains. Is the new Ferrari F10 single-seater faster than the rest?

Ferrari has been happy with the reliability, but suggested that because of the very varied testing programs and fuel loads people were running it would be impossible to know who is really the leader. In fact, at the first test in Valencia Spain Ferrari had topped the time sheets on all three days,

but in Jerez it was a different story. On the last day of testing Felipe Massa finished 7th out of the fastest recorded times for the day with a 1:21.485. That’s nearly two seconds slower than 1.19.684 seconds recorded by Mclaren’s Luis Hamilton.

“For sure we can say that we’ve got a reliable car, but it’s much too early for the rest, although I really hope so. The one who

does the best work, day after day on the track and at home, wins the title. I’m not the most important thing here. What counts is that we know that we’ve got a fast and constant car.”

Still, Felipe was proud of what Ferrari had achieved. “We’ve never driven 700 kilometres in just one day,” said the Brazilian.

Felipe also made it clear that he is back in top form and ready to compete for the title; “Physically I feel well, I actually thought that I might be more tired than I am. I’m pleased by the work we’ve done today, because we could test the car under all conditions. I’m happy for myself and the team: we concluded the foreseen programme and there is lots of data to analyse over the upcoming days, so we can prepare ourselves the best possible way for the next test session, without any particular problems. The only stop I had doesn’t worry me at all, because we know what caused it. I think we’re heading in the right direction, but we’re aware of the fact that there’s still lots of work ahead of us.”

Ferrari will return to testing on Wednesday the 17th as F1 teams continue their schedule at the Spanish track.

Source: http://ferrarif1forum.com

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