Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Q & A with Felipe Massa

Q. You were so fast in Valencia there were even suggestions you stopped earlier than you needed to in the first stint. Why was the car so good? Did it help it was hot, and will it change here because it is cold?

Felipe Massa: I think it was not just in Valencia - in Hungary it was the same. It shows we have a competitive car. I showed great pace in qualifying and also in the race, which we have shown many times this year.

And McLaren has shown sometimes that they can be very, very competitive ? even more than us - so we need to keep working very hard and try to have a similar pace or similar car to that which we had in the last two races.

Q. And the fact it is cold here?

FM: It doesn't matter just the temperature. It matters as well the asphalt - how the asphalt is to warm up the tyres. So it is not just the temperature outside, but also how the layout of the track is. Last year it was not so hot, quite cold here, and we never had any problems to warm up the tyres. So hopefully we can be competitive again this year.

Q. Kimi Raikkonen has been faster than you here for the last few years. How much of a concern is that - especially because he could take points off you and benefit Lewis Hamilton?

FM: It can be possible. We just need to do our best. We have the possibility to win and I am not coming to this race thinking that I am less competitive than I was at other races. So I was never very quick and competitive in Monaco (in the past), and I was the quickest by far this year - even with more fuel in qualifying. I think we just need to have the same mentality, and have the mentality to win the race.

Q. You have the traffic light system in the pitstops, which caused a problem in Valencia. How good is it?

FM: We are happy. We saw many times bad things happen with or without the traffic light - so it doesn't matter if it is with the lights or with the guy who pulls away the lollipop. We are happy and we don't change our approach because some things happened in the last race.

Q. Would it have been cruel if they had given you a drive through penalty like that did for the guys in GP2?

FM: Yes.

Q. Are you worried about the engine situation for this race?

FM: For sure we cannot say that we are better than ever in terms of reliability. We can say that we understood the problem and because we understood the problem I would not change my engine. I think it was also quite open for everybody that we had problems in the conrods. The engine I used in Hungary and the engine Kimi used until Valencia was mounted until the same time and with the same conrods.

We found that that lot of conrods had a problem in terms of manufacturers, so the engine I had in Valencia, which was a new engine, we understood the problem already and it was mounted differently. We looked at each conrods and controlled everything to not repeat the problems any more, and that is why I don't think it would be the right decision to change the engine. I feel comfortable that we can finish the races and understand the problem.

Q. What will be the key points to winning the championship?

FM: There will be many key points. For sure consistency is one of the most important key factors, as we saw many people lose important points this season. That is why the consistency is very, very important. The speed is very important to stay in the front or in a good position. There is reliability and being lucky sometimes helps. If you have the driver who can put all these things together then he will be the driver who wins the championship.

Q. Do you expect any support from your teammate now, or if you are in a better position in the world championship?

FM: If it is necessary, yes. I did it last year and, for sure, because of my job my teammate was champion. If it is necessary, then for sure (he should help). He is a very fair guy, as I am as well. That is part of our job.

Q. Is there a deadline inside the team to decide this?

FM: I don't know. I didn't talk to anybody about that. I always had a great support inside the team from the first race, and until now it hasn't changed anything. We always need to do the maximum we can to win the race, or even to finish in the best condition for the championship. That doesn't change my mentality.

Q. What is your opinion of Lewis Hamilton as a rival?

FM: He is a great driver. He is very quick and still quite young, and for sure has great ability. I respect him and I am sure he respects me as well, and he is a nice guy. That is my opinion.

Q. What do you think when people say he will go on and win six or seven championships?

FM: That is always the mentality of the media - you need to think about the first one first which is the most important thing for any driver. And when you win the first, you think about the second. That is the right direction to think about it - and I am talking about what is right for me - which is probably the same way what Lewis thinks.

Q. Can you give us some explanation about why you have never won a wet race in Formula One?

FM: I have never had a problem in the rain in go-karts. Always when it rained I won many races - in Formula Renault and Formula 3000 as well. I was always very quick in F1 in the rain, so the pace I had in Monaco in the wet, which was maybe the most difficult track to drive in the wet, shows what I can do.

But the people don't care. The people care if you just win, they don't look at lap times. They just care what happens at the end. I don't care what people think or they say that I don't know how to drive in the rain. I know how to drive in the rain, and that is how it works for me.

Q. There are suggestions your teammate is not so passionate about winning this year's championship. Can you talk about your passion?

FM: I don't think Kimi is not motivated or not passionate about winning. I think every driver is. I think you don't keep racing in F1, especially if you are a successful driver, just to race. You race because you want to win. It is part of the mentality from the good drivers.

I have known Kimi for two years, and for me Kimi now is the same guy I met at the first race. It doesn't change anything. The result is more important. I am motivated and I am passionate to win, and that is my feeling.

Q. Lewis Hamilton has said that he is now thinking only of the championship, rather than each race like last year? How dangerous does that make him in the title fight?

FM: I don't know, it is difficult to say. We have six races in front of us and to be honest this season I think he was even less consistent than he was last season until now. In F1, every race is a different experience - sometimes you learn different things each race, and sometimes things happen and it makes you believe or think in a different way. It is very early to say (you think only of the title). We always expect him to be a tough opponent and that is the way we approached last season when he was a rookie.

Q. Spa is said to be a man's track. What makes it so special?

FM: I think it was more in the past a man's track. Now you have Eau Rouge, which was a quite interesting corner, is now easily flat for everybody. So it is for sure much less than it was in the past. It is a very special track because it is very quick, lot of quick corners with a change of direction, which makes it quite interesting, but it is much less than it was in the past.

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Massa sure Raikkonen would help him
Next article Trulli 'concerned' about Singapore race

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe