Team SAUBER PETRONAS continued its four-day test at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez today. Felipe Massa set a best time of 1min 21.143s covering a total of 85 laps around the circuit with the test to be concluded by Neel Jani tomorrow.

Chief Race Engineer, Jacky Eeckelaert fills us in on the details: “Today we ran 85 laps with the new gearbox parts which is quite a good result. We have also tested new brake materials. In the morning when the track was still a bit wet we decided to assess a new electronic system which also ran quite well. Later we worked with Bridgestone on a tyre programme. Unfortunately we experienced a hydraulic oil leak in the afternoon which forced us to stop for more than an hour. When we finally fixed it there was not enough time anymore to go out on the track. This was our bad luck of today, but overall I am still quite satisfied with what we have done today.”

The following are Massa’s laptimes as compared to other drivers:

1. Pedro de la Rosa McLaren Mercedes 1:17.153 72 laps
2. Fernando Alonso Renault 1:17.837 94 laps
3. Juan Pablo Montoya Williams BMW 1:18.198 73 laps
4. Luca Badoer Ferrari 1:18.511 72 laps
5. Jenson Button BAR Honda 1:18.538 90 laps
6. Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:19.015 62 laps
7. Mark Webber Jaguar Cosworth 1:19.046 82 laps
8. Alexander Wurz McLaren Mercedes 1:19.462 42 laps
9. Olivier Panis Toyota 1:19.587 53 laps
10. Marc Gene Williams BMW 1:19.626 103 laps
11. Christian Klien Jaguar Cosworth 1:19.811 89 laps
12. Satoshi Motoyama Renault 1:19.996 67 laps
13. Felipe Massa SAUBER PETRONAS 1:21.143 85 laps
14. Björn Wirdheim BAR Honda 1:21.313 77 laps
15. Cristiano da Matta Toyota 1:21.478 28 laps
16. Franck Montagny Renault 1:27.541 6 laps