Ferrari: Comparative test sessions on the first day at the Nurburgring

First session
F. Massa: 3rd 1.33.745 21 laps 277 chassis
K. Raikkonen: 6th 1.33.840 23 laps 279 chassis

Second session
F. Massa: 12rd 1.33.052 34 laps 277 chassis
K. Raikkonen: 16th 1.33.182 29 laps 279 chassis

weather
First session: air 13/18 °C, asphalt 13/18 °C; overcast, rain at times.
Second session: air 15/16 °C, asphalt 17/18 °C; overcast, rain at times.

Formula 1 returned to the Nürburgring after a year's break on a day characterized by temperatures that were certainly not summery and some sprinkles of rain. The two Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers completed just over 100 laps in total (Felipe 54, Kimi 52), working mainly on preparing for Sunday's race and comparing the two types of tires brought here by Bridgestone. “The situation is quite similar to what we saw in the last race” – declared Stefano Domenicali – “our objective tomorrow will be to get both cars into Q3 and then try to get a good placing on Sunday. We know it won't be easy at all but we will do our best to succeed, as always."

Felipe Massa: “It was a decent day, which confirms our expectations. We still have to work a bit, especially to find the right balance for the first timed lap: with these temperatures the front struggles at the beginning and then improves lap after lap. In the afternoon we had a lot of fuel on board to prepare in the best way for Sunday's race so we are not particularly worried about the position in the standings."

Kimi Raikkonen: “I think we are more or less where we were at Silverstone. We still have some problems in finding the best balance of the car but I'm sure we will find the solutions to fix it. In the second session I only ran on the softer tires because we had to work on the car between the two sessions, thus losing some time. It certainly takes a lot of effort to get the hardest tires to the right operating temperature, as could be expected considering the weather conditions.”

Chris Dyer: “It was a rather difficult day, with changing weather conditions and some small technical problems (an oil leak from the gearbox on Kimi's car) which forced us to compress our work programme. In the end, however, we managed to complete practically everything we had planned, including the evaluation of some new aerodynamic solutions. There is certainly still some work to do to get the balance of the car right for what will be our priority in qualifying, namely getting the two cars into Q3, and for the race. The low temperatures are not favorable for us, especially when it comes to finding the time in the first timed lap.”