Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the quickest driver on the final day of testing at Hockenheim, as The Italian team brought to a close a development programme focussed on new mechanical and aerodynamic components for the F2008. The Brazilian also worked on finding the best set-up for the car for next weekend's German Grand Prix. The car ran trouble-free and Massa was able to complete the scheduled programme an hour before the track closed for the day.

"It was a good day's work," said the Brazilian. "We did a lot of kilometres and I have to say the car felt well balanced. This can only mean that we should also be competitive at this track, which is also the case for our main rivals."

While Massa was driving at Hockenheim, his team-mate was in Brussels, taking part in the European Youth Conference for Road Safety, which took place at the European Commission Headquarters in the Berlaymont Palace.

Second quickest, having set the pace for much of the day, was Honda's Jenson Button, as the Brackley outfit continued with its upgrade evaluation programme, together with simulated race starts and live refuelling where the team addressed the issues which created a problematic second pitstop for both drivers in last weekend's
race at Silverstone.

"My day was very productive," said the Englishman, "and we did a lot of useful aerodynamic work and long run comparisons with the different tyre compounds. The new parts we tested were positive and we achieved a lot during my 121 laps. As always we won't really know how much of an improvement the developments will bring until we are into the race weekend, but I'm looking forward to coming back here next week."

Third quickest was Heikki Kovalainen in the McLaren, as the Woking team continued development work of new aerodynamic and mechanical components and evaluated a number of different race set-ups ahead of the Grand Prix. The Finn completed 123 laps on the way to posting a best time of 1:15.289, 0.300s off Massa's pace.

Mark Webber continued for Red Bull, having taken over from David Coulthard yesterday lunchtime. The programme centred on preparation for the Grand Prix, evaluating various set-ups and carrying out tyre comparison work.

"We ran reliably which was a good thing because it meant we got through a lot of work," said Webber. "It's been hard work, but productive. Now we have plenty of data to study for the next race, which I think will be as close as ever, but we will of course be trying to repeat the form we showed on Friday and Saturday at the British Grand Prix."

Toro Rosso had to end today's session early, but it was for the positive reason that having run pretty much trouble-free for the past three days, the engine in the car had reached its mileage limit. Sebastian Vettel had a full day at the wheel, continuing with preparation work for the Grand Prix. He evaluated various mechanical and aero set-ups, did long runs to compare the tyre types and also did some work aimed at improving brake performance.

"We had three good test days here in Hockenheim, managing to do a lot of laps," said team principal Franz Tost. "I think we have found quite a good set-up and have a good understanding of the differences between the Bridgestone prime and option choices we will have next week. This means we should have a good baseline from which to start the test session next Friday morning here, and we are looking forward to the German Grand Prix."

At Renault, Fernando Alonso remained in the R28 for his second day of work and benefited from the near perfect weather conditions, with temperatures reaching 30 degrees C. The team made the most of the warm and sunny weather to complete a total of 115 laps.