Yesterday, like Tuesday, Massa was again a long way off the top of the times, seventh fastest, 1”893 off Michael Schumacher who was fastest today. Notably the F2012 of Massa was outpaced by both the customer Ferrari powered Toro Rossos which are also in the hands of new drivers.

“These two days have been different to usual, at least compared to what we’ve been used to at the start of previous years,” explained the Brazilian when he met with journalists. “This car is packed with elements that need plenty of fine tuning and they are different to what we had on previous cars. We concentrated on setting up a lot of specific points and there is still a lot to do: as usual, some things work the way they should, others less so. For example, I did a lot of laps at constant speed to gather information on the aerodynamics and on the general handling, because we need to be sure of the direction in which we need to go on the development front.”

Some aspects have been positive, as Massa explained: “We made some set-up changes from yesterday to today and the results this produced were what we had expected. It’s important that this happened, as it means the car is reacting in the right way. Obviously, there is still a lot to do, maybe more than we had expected before we started, but we are definitely not scared of hard work!

“I think the F2012 could well suit my driving style better than the previous car: for example, there is much less understeer,” continued Massa. “It’s only a case of working on it calmly and with concentration and that’s what we will continue to do over the next few days when Fernando drives. I think this car has great potential, also taking into account the point we are at now. Is this the ugliest Ferrari I’ve ever driven? I don’t know, as from the cockpit you can’t see the front wing and therefore not the step either: but definitely from the outside, it’s not the prettiest.” Today team mate Fernando Alonso takes over in the cockpit of the F2012.