Valencia testing: Day1

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Ferrari and Felipe Massa may have taken the honours on the first day of winter testing but it was Michael Schumacher's comeback that stole the show: He's back and he's quick.

The German made his first timed run in a F1 car in three years when he took the wheel of the new Mercedes at the start of the afternoon session and immediately served notice that he has not lost any of his pace. Within just twenty laps, Schumacher had bettered the fastest lap time set by Nico Rosberg during the morning and the veteran finished the day with a lead of more than half a second to of his team-mate. Even if conditions had improved for the afternoon, and it's unknown how much fuel the two Mercedes were carrying, it was a seriously impressive return to action for Schumacher.

Massa also made an impressive comeback in what was his first official run since his crash in Hungary last year.

Ferrari's Brazilian topped the charts, with a time of 1:12.574, two hundredths of a second faster than Pedro de la Rosa's BMW-Sauber.

Massa was quickest for most of day, only briefly losing top spot to de la Rosa in the afternoon, before grabbing the position back with his final run.

While Massa's time was impressive the Ferrari driver will surely be equally pleased by the 102 laps he got under his belt.

Nico Rosberg was given the honour of being the first to put the MGP W01 through its paces, and while the young German's performance was far from shameful, he was undoubtedly overshadowed by his compatriot later in the afternoon.

Indeed, Schumacher's impact was almost instantaneous, with the seven-time World Champion delivering a shock to the system when he registered a time that was four seconds faster than the competition. However, this time was quickly overruled when it was confirmed Schumacher had missed out part of the course.

The German continued to improve as he became more comfortable with the car, and early signs certainly suggest the 41-year-old has lost little pace - if any - during his three-year stint on the sidelines.

Fellow veteran de la Rosa put in a manful shift, with the Sauber's second spot on the time sheets sure to surprise many.

With Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button sitting out day one, the McLaren duties fell to test driver Gary Paffett, who registered a respectable fastest lap of 1:13.846.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Rubens Barrichello's day was the Brazilian bringing out the red flag for the first and only time, with his Williams stopping on the track late in the day. The FW32 failed to shock its more fancied competitiors, with Barrichello posting a fastest lap of 1:14.449.

Sebastian Buemi's Toro Rosso and the Renault of Robert Kubica rounded out the final places, with Kubica finishing nearly two and a half seconds off the pace.

Provisional times
01. F Massa Ferrari 1:12.574 102 laps
02. P de las Rosa BMW Sauber 1:12.784 74 laps
03. M Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:12.947 40 laps
04. N Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:13.543 39 laps
05. G Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.846 86 laps
06. R Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:14.449 75 laps
07. S Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:14.762 18 laps
08. R Kubica Renault 1:15.000 69 laps

Source: Valencia Day One: Massa fastest but Schumi steals the show - Planet-F1 News from planet-f1.com

Williams & Renault too slow.... hmmmm

All of the top three has been out of F1 for sometime

^ . its just a feeler.. remember the real thing will start when they actually qualify.. the fuel weights dont count here!

Originally Posted by SoMxNemesis

^ . its just a feeler.. remember the real thing will start when they actually qualify.. the fuel weights dont count here!

Not really,in this season qualifying wont go by the fastest car alone as they dont have to go into Q3 with race fuel,they will go with as less fuel as possible and after qualifying,fuel will be refilled for race....clashes are something am looking forward

Button vs Lewis

Lewis vs Alonso

Alonso vs Schumi

Schumi vs Massa

Schumi vs Vettel


Just waiting for the season to kickoff

^ that and more.. this should be fun