• Jerez Test, Day Three

'There are a lot of very quick cars' - Massa

Felipe Massa set the fastest time of the week so far on Thursday © Sutton Images

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• Report:
• Massa sets new fastest time on third day at Jerez
  

• Drivers:
• Felipe Massa

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Felipe Massa said "there are a lot of very, very quick cars" after setting the fastest time of day three at Jerez.

Having seen Jenson Button and Romain Grosjean top the timesheets for McLaren and Lotus on days one and two respectively, Massa went comfortably quickest with the fastest time of the week on Thursday having done a run on soft tyres. Massa said the time was good to ensure there was no pressure building around Ferrari but said he doubts that it is a position the team will hold come Australia.

"It's always nice at the end of the day to see you're the quickest car but honestly it doesn't count for anything," Massa said. "For sure if I am last you are always a little bit more frustrated with the pressure around a big team and everything, but being first is nice. It's a good feeling ... but as I said it's just the first week of testing and to be honest I'm sure there are a lot of very, very quick cars around the track. I don't know if we are really in that position for the first race, we need to work a lot."

Massa's lap was a second quicker than Button's time from Tuesday which he described as "incredible". Asked how he would describe his own lap as a result, Massa was keen to play down the time.

"I still believe his lap was incredible. Going with the hard tyres on the first day on a dirty track and everything I still believe it was a quick lap time. But I also didn't have the car to do this lap time on the first day, we didn't even try to work for the lap time but I think the lap was impressive and for sure many people is thinking the same about me now but we improved the car and all these days found some areas that I found improvement as well with the grip and driving. I think it was a good lap that we did but we'll wait and be sure of exactly what we're going to have at the beginning of the championship."

Having completed a lot of aerodynamic work during his three consecutive days at the wheel of the F138, Massa said he was encouraged that Ferrari had shown an ability to make clear progress during the week.

"When you put everything together, the improvements we made day-by-day I think it was a positive three days and I think it was a very important three days for the development of the car to work in the right direction. You know that if you're working in the right direction you can improve a lot more than you think for the first race so I hope this is a good direction for working and for the development."

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