BMW-Sauber's
Nick Heidfeld ended the day fourth on the timing screens, the German the only man to conduct more laps than de la Rosa as he covered 105 tours of the Montmelo track behind the wheel of the Munich and Hinwil-based concern's
F1.08. The man currently lying in second spot in the world drivers' standings focused on aerodynamic and mechanical set-up work as well as trying out different engine mappings in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Only a precautionary stop when an alarm light came on inside the cockpit disrupted the 30-year-old's progress, and he will remain in the car on Tuesday before handing over to team-mate
Robert Kubica for the final two days.
BMW affirmed it is not planning to try out the quicker 2009 regulation set-up until later in the test.
David Coulthard wound up fifth in the
Red Bull Racing as the experienced Scot looked at chassis and aerodynamic work and was another to try out the 2009-spec tyres, whilst
Kazuki Nakajima (Williams),
Timo Glock (Toyota) and
Nelsinho Piquet (Renault) proved evenly-matched and were separated by less than two tenths of a second in sixth to eighth places respectively.
Force India's Vitantonio Luzzi brought up the rear in ninth, more than four seconds away from Massa's stunning effort.
“The morning was spent working on the 2009 tyre programme with
Bridgestone,” summarised
Williams technical director Sam Michael, “then the rest of the session was devoted to suspension work in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix next week.”
“Today was a productive day, and the team and mechanics did a good job,” stated Glock, who concentrated on set-up work and trying out an aerodynamic update due to be introduced for the forthcoming grand prix, despite suffering a brief off-piste moment early on. “Everybody was focused on the new bits and pieces that we have brought and trying to find the right way forward. In the end that's what we did.
