Monza test - day three: 5 June.

Ferrari finally moved to the top of the timesheets on home soil, as test driver Felipe Massa took over the F2003-GA and led the way at Monza, with BAR-Honda keeping up the pressure with Takuma Sato.

05 Jun 2003

Ferrari finally moved to the top of the timesheets on home soil, as test driver Felipe Massa took over the F2003-GA and led the way at Monza, with BAR-Honda keeping up the pressure with Takuma Sato.

The Brazilian driver clocked 1min 22.854secs to replace Williams-BMW's Marc Gene at the top of the list, even though he could not quite beat the Spaniard's time from day two of the test. Massa carried out a long run at the wheel of the F2003-GA previously handled by Rubens Barrichello, completing a total of 70 laps as he checked tyre wear and the reliability of components destined for the Canadian GP next weekend.

Sato followed up the impressive performances of fellow BAR tester Anthony Davidson by clocking the second fastest time of the day, and was less than a tenth slower than Massa.

The Japanese driver - who was again partnered by Davidson instead of Jacques Villeneuve, who had suffered a recurrence of an old back injury - continued to work through the pre-Montreal programme, complete with evaluation of the latest spec Honda V10. His British colleague rounded out three days behind the wheel with a further 87 laps, while Sato covered just one lap more.

Pedro de la Rosa hauled the McLaren in front of Gene's Williams, having trailed the Spaniard for two days as he concentrated on the Canadian GP programme while David Coulthard, Kimi Raikkonen and Alex Wurz continued to assess the new MP4-18 in Spain.

Gene continued to focus on preparation work for Montreal, set-up work for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza later in the year, and general tyre development. Engine partner BMW was working on the engine's set-up and development for the next round and claims to have learnt from a couple of defects its encountered during the week.

Nick Heidfeld replaced Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the sole Sauber-Petronas, continuing his compatriot's work from Tuesday and Wednesday to verify his findings. In all, it was a busy day for the young German, as he tested various front wing configurations to confirm the choice for Montreal, as well as continuing with tyre work for the French Grand Prix in July and completing the aerodynamic tests for Montreal and Monza.

Bringing up the rear of the seven-car field, Olivier Panis was unable to build on yesterday's initial work with the latest spec Toyota engine as he managed only 49 laps between technical problems. Much of the Frenchman's planned programme thus went by the wayside.

With cars and teams needing to pack up for the flight to Canada, testing came to an end at Monza today.

Leading performances (5 May) - Monza:

Felipe Massa Ferrari-Ferrari 1min 22.854secs 69 lapsTakuma Sato BAR-Honda 1min 22.933secs 88 lapsPedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1min 22.939secs 69 laps*Marc Gene Williams-BMW 1min 22.976secs 59 laps*Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda 1min 23.449secs 87 lapsNick Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas 1min 23.481secs 79 lapsOlivier Panis Toyota-Toyota 1min 24.048secs 49 laps*