The Brazilian, who currently shares the lead of the Drivers’ Championship with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, was the only driver to lap inside one minute 15 seconds with a best time of 1:14.989s.
Hamilton was quickest on the opening two days of testing at the 4.574 km track, which plays host to the German Grand Prix next weekend.
“It was a good day’s work,” said Massa in a team statement. “We did a lot of kilometres and I have to say the car felt well balanced. This can only mean we should also be competitive at this track, which is also the case for our main rivals.”
Britain’s Jenson Button was second fastest for Honda in 1:15.081 on a bright and warm day with McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, taking over driving duties from Hamilton, third quickest in 1:15.289
ahead of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel rounding out the top five for Toro Rosso.
“It’s been hard work, but productive,” said Webber. “Now we have plenty of data to study for the next race, which I think will be as close as ever.”
Fernando Alonso was sixth fastest but suffered a mechanical failure late in the day. Rookie Kazuki Nakajima finished seventh and also suffered a mechanical problem in the morning.
Robert Kubica ended a rather subdued test for BMW-Sauber with the eighth fastest time while Jarno Trulli was ninth as Toyota once again showed its version of the ‘shark fin’ engine cover. However, the Italian carried out much of the development work without the fin cover.
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