F1: Massa crash damages Sauber hopes

Sauber’s preparations for the forthcoming Formula One season suffered a blow today with Brazilian rookie Felipe Massa crashing heavily during testing.

Massa lost control of his Ferrari-powered car at the Mugello circuit in Italy, smashing into a tyre barrier and severely damaging the Sauber, although the young driver was unhurt.

During his shortened 22-lap testing stint Massa clocked a quickest time of one minute 26.046 seconds before being forced to end the session early after the damage proved too serious to repair.

Sauber mechanics now face a race against time to get the Sauber Petronas C21 repaired in time for the opening round of the season in Australia on March 3 especially after team-mate Nick Heidfeld crashed heavily yesterday.

Massa said: ‘‘I am disappointed to have crashed the car. But it was extremely good experience to do the refuelling stops and this will stand me in good stead, ready for the first grand prix of my career.’’

Sauber technical director Willy Rampf said: ‘‘Unfortunately, Felipe’s work was interrupted when he had an accident on the second run this afternoon.

‘‘He lost the car in turn 11 and hit the tyre barrier sideways. He was unhurt of course, but the team decided to end the test prematurely as the damage to the car was too great to rebuild it on-site in a very short period of time.’’