Brazilian Felipe Massa clocked the fastest time in his Ferrari during private practice at the Montmelo circuit near the Spanish capital of Barcelona on Monday.

Massa, using slick tyres expected to be in use in 2009, managed 1min 18.339sec, which was almost three seconds ahead of the other cars on this track which will host the fourth Grand Prix of the season on 27 April.

Monday's times
Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 1.18.339 (77 laps)
Alex Wurz (AUT) Honda 1.21.059 (75)
Pedro Mtez. de la Rosa (ESP) McLaren 1.21.566 (113)
Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW 1.21.679 (105)
Nelson Piquet (BRA) Renault 1.21.913 (90)
David Coulthard (ENG) Red Bull 1.22.193 (59)
Kazuki Nakajima (JPN) Williams 1.22.431 (72)
Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 1.22.590 (93)
Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force Italia 1.22.846 (91)