Massa hails new Ferrari F60

Eurosport - Tue, 13 Jan 17:55:00 2009

Felipe Massa gave Ferrari's new Formula One car its track debut and said it felt entirely different to the one he drove to victory six times last year.

2009 Test Mugello Ferrari Massa - 0

Formula One has made major changes for the coming season with new aerodynamic regulations and slick tyres brought in to boost overtaking.

New rules on weight distribution have been drawn up and the KERS system, which gives cars a limited power boost by recovering energy from the brakes, introduced.

"It really is a car which is totally different to what we were used to up to last year," the Brazilian said as the constructors' world champions became the first team to unveil their car.

"KERS and the aerodynamic changes mean the car is completely different to drive. This is just the beginning of a new cycle in Formula One and it will not be an easy experience."

Massa was runner-up last year to McLaren's 23-year-old Briton Lewis Hamilton, who won the driver's title by one point.

Massa had expected the first outing at Mugello to be tough but saw positive signs ahead of a proper test in Portimao, Portugal, later this month.

"This was the first day and we weren't looking to do 100 laps and good times given that they've changed the rules," he said. "Today there were small problems like on any first day but I'm happy with how it went.

"It will certainly be very different to drive this car...but you get more familiar and eventually it will be automatic. When changes are introduced it is always like that and at this stage we suffer, like last year with the lack of traction control.

"This is a situation where the driver is more important."

The 27-year-old had no regrets about last season and felt confident ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 29.

"The mood inside the team is pretty good. There have been great changes and maybe it will change some of the ways we work.

I'm pretty happy with the work done by the team and I hope they'll continue to improve week after week," he said.

"During this holiday period I just put myself in a very normal frame of mind and tried to draw a lesson from last year. I'm not looking backwards, I'm always looking to the future."

Some observers have said the aerodynamic changes have made the new cars look ugly but Massa thought Ferrari's F60 was not too bad.

"I was positively impressed. I prefer to have an ugly car with very high performance levels," he said.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 13 of 53

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  1. Blimey in this picture the front wing wing looks huge.
    Sorry agentkay I can see you were being ironic too.

    From BigBill, on Mon 12 Jan 9:08PM

  2. Slim I think Vinny was perhaps being ironic.

    From BigBill, on Mon 12 Jan 9:07PM

  3. IT LOOKS LIKE A DISASTER ON WHEELS

    From I TYSON, on Mon 12 Jan 8:47PM

  4. Are All People from Peru - complete To$$ers

    New Front Wing - is just to stop mclaren and ferrari - touching wheels at the first corner !!! - thats all

    From M.C. Aitchi.., on Mon 12 Jan 8:13PM

  5. Vinny : grooved tyres were introduced in an effort to slow the cars down . The contact patch between the tyre and the road is reduced which in turn makes for less mechanical grip. The counter measure was to increase the performance of the aero package using larger wings.

    From slimj, on Mon 12 Jan 8:08PM

  6. Hey marino from peru no one cares what u think and fu@! off

    From sam, on Mon 12 Jan 8:03PM

  7. No agentkay he DROVE it to 5 victories last year.

    From BigBill, on Mon 12 Jan 8:02PM

  8. The front wing reminds me of those old 'curb feelers' American cars of the 70's era had. Of course they weren't 750K a shot as an part of an option package.

    Can someone remind me why they did away with slicks in the first place?

    From vinnydawg67, on Mon 12 Jan 7:45PM

  9. hey dumbo from peru if you find the politics of F1 so distasteful maybe you should pick a different sport, perhaps ping pong is more your speed.

    From F1 Kracker, on Mon 12 Jan 7:39PM

  10. F1 Kracker
    Brilliant! Absolutely f***ing spot on!!! LMFAO!!!

    From vinnydawg67, on Mon 12 Jan 7:38PM

  11. So they want limit the cost of racing? how? by making every team go thru 6-7 wings every race? whomever can finish a race with the original wing will be the winner.

    From F1 Kracker, on Mon 12 Jan 7:28PM

  12. Just look at the front wing in the picture it looks like its fallen of already!!

    From MGA, on Mon 12 Jan 7:27PM

  13. The one he drove to victory six times last year?
    Am I mistaken?

    From Agent k, on Mon 12 Jan 7:13PM
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