Scuderia Ferrari has silenced at a stroke doubts about its new F2007 Formula 1 car by wrapping up three days of official F1 testing in Barcelona with its drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen posting the quickest overall times in Spain.

The first day of testing this week for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro kicked off on Monday morning with the Italian team working at the Catalonian circuit, near Barcelona. They were joined on the race track by all their main rivals for Grand Prix honours this year: Renault, McLaren-Mercedes, BMW Sauber, Williams-Toyota, Red Bull-Renault, Toyota, Honda, Spyker-Ferrari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari and the Super Aguri-Honda team.

However the Ferrari F2007 did not make a very positive debut on the new layout of the Catalan track: on its installation lap, Felipe Massa's car developed an electrical problem, which provoked a small fire that led to a long stop in the pits to effect repairs. Kimi Raikkonen's car also suffered a different electrical problem, which meant he too spent a long while in the garage. Then, around lunchtime, a shower hit the track, which only started to dry after 3 in the afternoon. The first day's technical programme was planned to include endurance testing, set-up work and development of new aerodynamic components. The summary of the day in figures was as follows: 25 laps for Raikkonen (best time 1.23.215) and 29 for Massa (1.23.077.) the duo eventually setting the sixth and fifth fastest times of the day respectively.

The second day of testing on Tuesday saw Massa and Raikkonen continuing with the development programme on the F2007, while also carrying out race simulations runs. The day went smoothly for the team and the planned programme was completed. The weather saw air temperatures of 9/17°C and track temperatures of 9/23°C. The day started very slightly cloudy in the early morning before turning sunny. Raikkonen turned in 154 laps (best time 1.21.719.) while Massa ran 108 laps (best time 1.21.181).
 

This bounced the two Ferrari drivers' to the top of the timesheets, ahead of Kovalainen in the Renault R27 (1:21.819, 101 laps) and Fernando Alonso's McLaren-Mercedes MP4-22 (1:21.909, 63 laps). Their team mates, Giancarlo Fisichella and Lewis Hamilton were next up, with best laps of 1:21.997 (131 laps) and 1:22.078 (108 laps), respectively.

The third and final day of testing on the 4.665 km Catalunya circuit took place yesterday with Massa and Raikkonen completed the planned programme for this test. During the morning, both of them had done sufficient laps with their respective engines to complete the duty cycle forecast for one engine in accordance with the new regulations for this season, while also trying out various set-up changes on the F2007. The air temperature was 9/20 °C while the track temperature 9/24 °C; it was cloudy in the morning, but with clear skies in the afternoon. The day in figures was as follows: 45 laps for Raikkonen (best time 1.22.363) and 92 for Massa (1.21.958.). This left the pair seventh and third fastest respectively, with David Coulthard in the new Red Bull RB3 setting the day's quickest time in 1:21.855 (112 laps) ahead of Nick Heidfeld's BMW Sauber (1:21.958, 96 laps).

The final day in Barcelona also saw former F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher dropping into the Ferrari pits; and dressed in red team overalls and headphones the German did little to dispel widespread rumours in the media that he is being groomed for a new management role within the Scuderia.

The teams all packed up after the three days of testing with Massa and Raikkonen's times on Tuesday being unbeaten, at a stroke answering press concerns about the new F2007. The Scuderia will resume testing on 22nd February at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain. On track once again will be Massa and Raikkonen.