Ferrari falls behind in Friday practice

Ferrari was expected to set a dominant pace in practice today but instead Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen ended the first day of action at the Circuit de Catalunya in fourth and sixth positions respectively.

"It is difficult to assess the situation after these three hours of practice," said Massa. "The track conditions are definitely very different to these we had in testing last week, but all in all, I am reasonably happy with the work we have done today. Just how happy I will be, we will only know on Sunday after the race!"

Kimi Raikkonen commented, "Track conditions were very different to those we found when testing here last week and it is definitely more slippery. So, we are struggling a bit to find the right balance of the car. All our work has centred on finding the best race set-up on the car. We will have to study the data carefully to improve, both for qualifying and for Sunday's race."

Technical chief Luca Baldisserri added, "The track has changed compared to the way it was at the test here just last week. Our work programme centred on preparation for Sunday's race and on the comparison of the two types of tyre that Bridgestone has made available to the team for this Grand Prix. We did not have any problems but we still have to find the ideal set-up for the F2007, especially in terms of its performance over a single lap. But we are confident enough about our chances on Sunday."

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