Felipe Massa says he already prefers the behaviour of the new Ferrari F10 to last year's difficult F60, having topped the testing times at Valencia today (Monday) as the 2010 season preparations kicked off following the end of the testing ban.

Ferrari endured a miserable 2009 season, and shelved development on last season's car early in the summer to pour resources into the new F60 instead.

On the basis of his performance today, Massa reckons that strategy is paying off.

"I think it was a very positive day – the car behaved very well," he said.

"We managed to start and finish our programme like expected, even some more laps than expected.

"So I think everything went very well on the first day and the car behaved in a good direction in terms of I felt [it is an] easier car to drive compared to last year.

"Last year it was always difficult to find the direction and find the balance.

"This year, it was just one day, but at least in the first day it was quite positive and quite easy to find the direction on the set-up and the balance of the car.

"Also with the tyres I didn’t feel any problem to work on these tyres so I think everything went in a very good direction for the first day.

"But it’s not enough. There’s still a lot of work to do to improve the car before the first race, which is the most important thing."

Today's test was Massa's first run in a contemporary F1 car since he suffered terrible head injuries in a crash at the Hungaroring last year – and he said he was overjoyed to be back.

"I’m happy to be back after such a long time watching the races on the television and some times at the track," he said.

"I’m very good on the physical point of view.

"I did 100 laps but I could have done much more and I’m 100% ready to come back to racing."

He said topping the times was particularly pleasing given that it was his first test with other drivers since his accident.

"It’s always nice to be first in any occasion. Even if you are joking with your mum, it is nice to be first!" Massa joked.

"I think after the difficult time I had it is always nice to go on the track competitively.