.:: Pirelli Tyre Test - Abu Dhabi ::.

MASSA QUICKEST ON PIRELLI TEST DAY ONE

Ferrari's Felipe Massa topped the first day of Pirelli tyre testing in Abu Dhabi, the first time that Formula 1 teams have tried the Italian manufacturer's new-for-2011 rubber.

The Brazilian complained throughout the 2010 season that tyre warm-up struggles were to blame for his poor qualifying performances, saying recently that "I'm sure if I fix the big problem I had this year I will be back in the fight." By topping the first test on the new tyres, he got his preparations for next season off to a perfect start.

The Brazilian set a best time of 1m40.170s to displace world champion Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) at the top of the timesheets during the afternoon session. Massa's time was two tenths slower than that of Ferrari tester Jules Bianchi from the recent young driver test and half a second off team-mate Fernando Alonso's qualifying lap for the recent Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Vettel was only three tenths off Massa and seven tenths ahead of McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, who is driving in place of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button throughout the tyre test.

Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi was fourth-fastest ahead of Renault's Robert Kubica, who only completed 39 laps after hitting mechanical trouble, with Rubens Barrichello ending the day sixth fastest for Williams. The vastly experienced Brazilian completed almost 100 laps during the day, spending the morning concentrating on assessing the aerodynamic impact of the new tyres before working on tyre behaviour in the afternoon.

Scottish rising star Paul di Resta, who beat Vettel to the 2006 Formula 3 Euro Series title, ended up seventh-fastest despite not hitting the track until the late afternoon. Force India suffered an exhaust problem in the morning while Adrian Sutil was behind the wheel and spent much of the day rebuilding its car.

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was eighth-fastest on the first day of a vital test for Mercedes, which struggled with tyre use all year. He outpaced Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), who was the first driver to take to the track in the morning.

Sutil ended the day 10th fastest, only completing 20 laps, with Virgin's Timo Glock ending the day best of the new teams ahead of Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus).

Williams aspirant Pastor Maldonado continued his week of testing with a second day at HRT. He ended the day under nine tenths off Kovalainen.

Pos  Driver              Car          Time       Laps
1.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari      1m40.170s  94  
2.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull     1m40.500s  77  
3.  Gary Paffett        McLaren      1m40.874s  94  
4.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber       1m40.950s  83  
5.  Robert Kubica       Renault      1m41.032s  39  
6.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams     1m41.425s  91  
7.  Paul di Resta       Force India  1m41.615s  20  
8.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes     1m41.778s  81  
9.  Jaime Alguersuari   Toro Rosso   1m42.019s  71 
10.  Adrian Sutil        Force India  1m42.859s  20 
11.  Timo Glock          Virgin       1m44.124s  78 
12.  Heikki Kovalainen   Lotus        1m44.686s  88 
13.  Pastor Maldonado    Hispania     1m45.728s  83  

All timing unofficial

SOURCE: Autosport

ALONSO FASTEST AS PIRELLI TEST ENDS

Ferrari completed its domination of the final Formula 1 running of the season, with Fernando Alonso matching team-mate Felipe Massa by topping the times in the Abu Dhabi tyre test.

Over the course of the two-day test, the 12 F1 teams have had their first opportunity to try Pirelli's development rubber for the 2011 season. As well as being fastest, Alonso completed over 100 laps today, almost two full race distances.

Michael Schumacher, who has struggled with front-end grip throughout the 2010 season, was second-fastest, putting in a lap just 0.156s off Alonso with 15 minutes of the day remaining.

This put him ahead of Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, who had a repeat of yesterday's tyre failure and had to stop on track shortly before midday. Friday's incident was traced to a cut tyre, and Pirelli has yet to confirm to cause of this puncture despite suspicions that it was the same.

Williams's Rubens Barrichello and Renault driver Robert Kubica were fourth and fifth fastest for Renault ahead of McLaren pairing Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey. DTM title hopeful Paffett was the faster of the two drivers after running in the morning, with his young team-mate only one tenth of a second slower.

Force India's Paul di Resta was eighth fastest after causing a brief red flag earlier in the day when a sensor fault shut the car down, outpacing Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi.

Toro Rosso's Sebastian Buemi was 10th fastest ahead of two drivers who only ran in the afternoon - Force India's Tonio Liuzzi and Sauber newcomer Sergio Perez. It was only Perez's second day in an F1 car and he lapped just under seven tenths off his team-mate.

Lotus was best of the new teams, with Jarno Trulli a quarter of a second ahead of HRT's Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan driver, on his fourth day of F1 running in five days, caused a red flag in the afternoon when he spun and stopped on track.

German Timo Glock completed two days of running for Virgin, ending up slowest, just 15 thousandths of a second behind Maldonado.

 Pos  Driver              Team         Time       Laps
1.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari      1m40.529s  105  
2.  Michael Schumacher  Mercedes     1m40.685s  74  
3.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull     1m40.825s  66  
4.  Rubens Barrichello  Williams     1m41.294s  100  
5.  Robert Kubica       Renault      1m41.614s  91  
6.  Gary Paffett        McLaren      1m41.622s  46  
7.  Oliver Turvey       McLaren      1m41.740s  30  
8.  Paul di Resta       Force India  1m41.869s  35  
9.  Kamui Kobayashi     Sauber       1m42.110s  43 
10.  Sebastien Buemi     Toro Rosso   1m42.145s  97 
11.  Tonio Liuzzi        Force India  1m42.416s  46 
12.  Sergio Perez        Sauber       1m42.777s  46 
13.  Jarno Trulli        Lotus        1m44.521s  83 
14.  Pastor Maldonado    Hispania     1m44.768s  65 
15.  Timo Glock          Virgin       1m44.783s  82 

SOURCE: Autosport