Ferrari start work on second F10 chassis at third test in Jerez
Massa completed over 700km in the F10 during the final day of last week's test in Jerez on Saturday
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Wednesday, 17, Feb 2010 10:42
By Adam Leveridge
Ferrari engineers have begun work on their second F10 chassis at the third pre-season test of the year in Jerez after Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa clocked 700km in the car in a single day.
Both Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa completed a series of long runs during last week's four-day test at the southern Spanish circuit.
Having made so much progress, Ferrari announced they have started work on chassis 282 - the second of two F10 chassis - and have also introduced a number of small aerodynamic updates to the car, before incorporating a larger upgrade package onto the F10 at the final test of the year in Barcelona.
Speaking to reporters at the end of day four of testing in Jerez last week, after clocking up more then 700km in the car, Massa said he is confident that Ferrari are heading in the right direction.
"We've never driven 700 kilometres in just one day," said Massa.
"Physically I feel well, I actually thought that I might be more tired than I am.
"I'm pleased by the work we've done today, because we could test the car under all conditions.
"I'm happy for myself and the team: we concluded the foreseen programme and there is lots of data to analyse over the upcoming days, so we can prepare ourselves the best possible way for the next test session, without any particular problems."
Massa stopped just once on Saturday and, while Ferrari were reluctant to confirm the reason for the stoppage, it appears the team were testing the construction of the F10's fuel cell, to ensure every kilo of fuel is used by the car before cutting out.
"The only stop I had doesn't worry me at all, because we know what caused it.
"I think we're heading in the right direction, but we're aware of the fact that there's still lots of work ahead of us."
Meanwhile, Lotus Racing made its group test debut in Jerez on Wednesday, pitching up alongside ten other teams, including fellow newcomers Virgin Racing, whose progress was slowed last week because of heavy rain and a front-wing failure.
Lotus' Cosworth-powered T127 will be driven by both Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen over the next four days, however, with rain forecast, the team's testing schedule may be disrupted somewhat.