Felipe Massa, driving for Williams for the first time, set the fastest pace on the fourth and final day of testing for Formula 1 cars at Jerez yesterday.

The Grove-based team, who endured a miserable season in 2013, watched with delight as the Brazilian recorded a time of 1min 28.229 secs on a drying track Afterwards, Massa said: “We completed some laps in the wet conditions which was interesting to understand how the car behaves in wet, with the tyres and new power unit.

“We managed to do many more laps today than we have in the last three days which is important, and we didn’t have any issues with the car which is also another step forward.

“Overall, I’m happy with my first days with Williams and I’m pleased with what I have seen in the team this week.

“It is important to be competitive, but testing is testing, and we now need to look to prepare for next session in Bahrain.”

Massa’s time put his Williams almost a second clear of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari, which racked up most laps – 115 – on the day.

Daniel Juncadella was third for Force India, Jules Bianchi was sixth fastest for the Banbury-based Marussia team, while Kamui Kobayashi was ninth in his Leafield-prepared Caterham.

For the third day running, Red Bull were forced to bring an early end to their test.

It means that over the four days the reigning four-times Formula 1 champions managed a grand total of just 21 laps – 11 for Sebastian Vettel and ten for new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo because of a series of mechanical problems.