Full Throttle

Testing on the new 2009 F60 Ferrari continued on Wednesday at the famous Mugello track just outside Florence with Felipe Massa completing 104 laps.

The Brazilian, who narrowly lost out on the world title to Britain’s Lewis Hamilton last season, took over the baton from 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen who tested on Monday and Tuesday.

The weather had improved slightly from the previous two days but not enough to test slick tyres.

Massa posted a best time of 1min 33.353sec, just over half a second quicker than Raikkonen’s best of 1:33.92sec over the previous two days.

As with all Formula One cars, the new Ferrari has undergone many changes for the coming season as the International Automobile Federation (FIA) imposed new design specifications in a bid to increase overtaking in a sport often lacking in excitement due to the difficulties in passing the car in front.

A shorter front wing, a thinner but higher and more compact rear wing and standardised central chassis are all modifications introduced by the FIA’s Overtaking Working Group (OWG).

Other changes include an improvement to the suspension to make handling in difficult conditions easier, while slick tyres will be re-introduced this year.

The Kers system to recuperate kinetic energy has also been installed on the engine while the transmission has been redesigned to improve aerodynamic efficiency.

The Kers is the one new element that has caused the most worry and uncertainty but Ferrari engineer Chris Dyer revealed that everything was working well.

“We did more than 500km without any problems, we’ve taken the first steps and for now everything is working,” he said.

“Felipe tested the Kers and for the most part it seemed to work, the only negative is that we still haven’t been able to test slicks.”

Massa will continue testing on Thursday.