Q & A with Felipe Massa
| By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde |
Thursday, June 4th 2009, 15:12 GMT |
Q. After the improvements you have made, do you feel Ferrari is the second quickest team now?
 Felipe Massa: Well, for sure we showed a great improvement in the last race. Starting at Barcelona and also in the last race we showed a great performance. We still want to improve more and be in a position to fight for victory.
If it's here it would be fantastic, to be here with a competitive car to fight for victory. And if it's not here, I hope we can carry on with the development to improve the car.
I think we cannot say yet that we are the second best team in the field. At the moment we've just done one race in front of Red Bull, so we would like to have other races in front of them and in front of Brawn as well to see if we can say that. This race will be very, very competitive.
We are going to have another difficult race. Brawn is very strong, Red Bull they are very good in this kind of track. But we have some new parts in the car which can give us extra performance so I'm looking forward to fight for victory or another very good result.
Q. What has been the biggest improvement in the car?
FM: The diffuser is the most important thing. And then for sure the whole aerodynamics. We have improved that a lot. Also other details, but for sure the diffuser is what we have improved the most.
Q. You've won three times here, what's the secret? And can you make it four out of four?
FM: It would be fantastic to win another time here. It'd be an incredible feeling for me. Three is already fantastic. Four would be a dream. The secret, I don't know. I think I feel very comfortable here. It's a track with most corners to the left. I've always been very competitive here and also in Brazil. Maybe my brain is strange about left-side corners.
Q. With the uncertainty about Formula 1's future, would you drive for Ferrari outside of Formula 1?
FM: I'm a Ferrari driver. I have another year of contract with the team so I hope the team will be in Formula 1. If the team is not in Formula 1 I have no idea. First of all we need to understand how Formula 1 is going to be without Ferrari and without some other teams.
I think it's impossible to think now. We need to wait and see what's the decision. I hope not, but if Ferrari is not here, maybe I will have a one-year holiday or drive in another championship. I don't know. We need to wait and see. I hope things will be okay, because Formula 1 without important teams would be very different, not nice for the sport. I really hope things will be okay.
Q. What have you learned since the beginning of the season?
FM: I've learned that it's much easier to control the race when you start from pole position. When you start from the middle of the field it's much more difficult, and especially when there are other cars better than yours, so you are giving the maximum and sometimes is not enough. So it's much more difficult, but that's life and you always learn.
Q. Do you think it could be a key weekend if Brawn wins again?
FM: I'm not the kind of guy who gives up very easily, so I'll fight until the last corner of the last race. But, in my experience, Brawn will be champions. It's impossible to believe that they are going to lose the championship. For me it's already over.
Maybe for Red Bull is not over yet, but for us, we are completely behind in the championship. That doesn't mean we won't fight in every race to win. I will try to win as many races as possible this season. And we will try to fight until the end. Mathematically it's still possible, but it's quite difficult.
For me it's quite difficult to believe that Brawn will not score points anymore. They have a really competitive car with which is easy to score points. So even if we win as many races as possible, they are going to be there. But anyway, we will fight until the end and try to win as many races as possible and see where we can get.
Q. If you were to win here on Sunday, would that be the most special win of the four?
FM: Yeah, I think so. Every victory has been very special, but winning four times in a row would make it very special, especially given the circumstances in the championship. So it would be very special. Let's try.
Q. Is this the first time this season you are going into the weekend thinking you have a chance to win?
FM: I think it will be very difficult, but we have a chance. Looking at how we did in the last races, it's quite possible. We need to see how much we have improved the car for this race. We need to wait and see, but we have the possibility.
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