Ferrari Engine Failure In Bahrain Not Serious?

(from autosport)


Felipe Massa is not too worried about Ferrari's reliability issues during testing at the Bahrain circuit.

Massa suffered an engine failure that cut his running short yesterday, just one day after his progress had been halted by a hydraulic glitch in the F2008.

The Brazilian, however, reckons yesterday's problem was not serious, and he was left positive despite failing to complete his scheduled programme.

"It was a positive day, even though I didn't complete the race simulation because of an engine problem," Massa told Gazzetta dello Sport. "It's been taken off the chassis to investigate.

"The feeling is that it's not a serious failure, and that it's possible to solve it before the Australian GP.

"We would all have preferred to finish the GP (simulation), but it's better for the problems to come up now and not in the first GP, as in 2007 and at my disadvantage."

Despite the problems, the Ferrari driver is still upbeat about the F2008's performance so far.

"I like the car: it's not yet the definitive one for the first GP, but the performance and the reliability are excellent," the Brazilian added.

"The laptimes are good both compared to last year and compared to Toyota's. Comparisons with the rest will come soon. We are already more than satisfied, because we know we'll further improve."