BMW Sauber have been the Formula One team to watch in pre-season tests so far, according to Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

"The McLaren definitely looks quick but for me the BMW is the best of all at the moment," the Brazilian driver told Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper after testing at Jerez in southern Spain on Thursday.

"I say that not just looking at this final day (of testing), but at their consistency when they did long-distance simulations.

"BMW were impressive in Valencia and here as well they did very, very interesting tests," he added.

"The McLaren is the quickest over a single lap but BMW are impressively consistent even if maybe they are not yet the most reliable. For now, I put them ahead of Ferrari and McLaren," said the former Sauber driver.

Germany's Nick Heidfeld was quickest in a wet and windy session on Thursday with a lap of one minute 29.486 seconds, according to unofficial timings.

The team's German test driver Timo Glock was third on the timesheets, behind Williams' Alex Wurz. Massa's best lap of the day was 1:30.689 while team mate Kimi Raikkonen lapped in 1:30.565.

BMW were fifth overall last season, their first since splitting from Williams and buying Swiss-based Sauber. Heidfeld is partnered by Poland's Robert Kubica.

Massa, winner of two races in 2006 as team mate to now-retired Michael Schumacher, said the new Ferrari was easier to set up than last year's and was already showing itself to be a balanced and stable machine.

"We are where we expected to be. The car is proving to be quick and reliable, even if we have had a few problems," he added. "But we know how to fix them."

The season starts in Australia on March 18.