SEPTEMBER 20, 2001

Massa flies for Sauber

DOMINANT Euro Formula 3000 championship leader Felipe Massa greatly impressed the Sauber team in his first run with them at Mugello.

The 20-year-old Brazilian has won many admirers this year and was thought to be in line for a Ferrari test drive, but has now put himself in pole position to be Kimi Raikkonen's successor in the Ferrari-powered Sauber team.

Technical director Willy Rampf certainly made no bones about his first impressions of the youngster. "It was a pleasure to work with him," said Rampf. "His times came down very nicely, and given the conditions of the day he was able to lap faster than Michael Schumacher or Rubens Barrichello did at the test here in August.