Felipe Massa had to wait until Tuesday afternoon for his very special Christmas present, the recovering Brazilian driver turned in 30 laps of the Mugello circuit at the wheel of an F20007 single-seater that was supplied by the Corse Clienti department.

Felipe Massa had to wait until Tuesday afternoon for his very special Christmas present. The Brazilian driver wanted to get back behind the wheel of a Formula 1 single-seater before the end of the year and took the opportunity of his visit to Maranello for the traditional Christmas events over the weekend to accomplish his desire.

The opportunity was supported by Ferrari’s Corse Clienti department, which provided Felipe with an F2007, the car which won the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Titles two years ago, fitted with demonstration tyres for the occasion to avoid the test ban that is in force for F1 teams.

It was the first time Massa had been behind the wheel of an F1 car since demonstration of the F60 in Valencia during traditional last day show by the Scuderia at the Ferrari Finali Mondiali exactly a month ago. A month before his Spanish appearance, and two-and-a-half months after his accident at the Hungaroring, he got into the cockpit and tested an F2007 at Fiorano.

The weather conditions yesterday at the Autodromo del Mugello enabled the Brazilian driver to go onto the track only in the afternoon. Massa drove about 30 laps before he had to stop when it became dark: “I’m happy that I could get into this car and it’s always a pleasure driving on a track like Mugello. Everything went well: it’s a pity that I could only drive in the afternoon. Let’s hope I can be back tomorrow!” Massa plans to be in Mugello today (Wednesday) before he goes back to Brazil.