Massa Admits Pain in His Neck During Mugello Test

Before returning to his native Brazil for the Christmas holidays, Felipe Massa concluded a 2-day test at the wheel of a Ferrari F2007 earlier this week. The Brazilian driver did approximately 30 laps on Tuesday and an overall 60 laps the next day, thanks to a “present” from Ferrari. The testing session was not initially scheduled at the Mugello track, but the company's CEO Luca di Montezemolo agreed to let the Brazilian drive around the circuit in order to get more used to the F1 cockpit.

This was Massa's second test of a Formula One car following his accident in the Hungarian Grand Prix and, although the session seems to have been set up by the Scuderia for ulterior reasons, the Brazilian took the time to test his reactions during long race stints.

The test was not all smiles however, despite Massa's public gratitude towards the Italian team for letting him test-drive prior to the official preparations for the 2010 season. While driving the F2007 fitted with demonstration tires, Massa did admit feeling some neck pain when going through the Mugello track's fast corners.

“Even though I trained a lot over the last months, certain muscles important for driving were a bit sleepy. I had a bit of pain in my neck, especially on the fast corners which make this one of the toughest tracks. As for the rest I felt good and felt no difference from before the accident,” 28-year old Massa was quoted as saying by the AFP press agency.

Official FIA-scheduled testing for the 2010 season will begin in January, which is when Fernando Alonso is scheduled to join the Scuderia as an official Ferrari-an. The team will launch their 2010 challenger in late January, at Valencia (during the group launched agreed upon earlier this month), with its first on-track test to take place a few days later, on the Ricardo Tormo circuit.