Q & A with Felipe Massa

Q. How do you account for the car being so much faster in the race than it was in qualifying?

Felipe Massa: Well, for sure it is a difficult question. Maybe one of the answers I can give you is that on race day it was a bit hotter than in qualifying. It was three or four degrees [centigrade], which sometimes looks like a bit of an excuse, but three or four degrees on the range of the temperature that the tyres need to work can make a big difference. I think maybe this can be a reasonable answer to your question.

Apart from that, I don't know. The car in the race was much better than it was in qualifying, so the race pace was really, really good. But in qualifying we did not find a direction.

Q. So did you suffer from less understeer or oversteer?

FM: No, just a bit more grip. It was maybe from the temperature that the tyres were working better.

Q. At the start of the race, was it a deliberate plan to go wide at the first corner?

FM: No. It was never a plan. I decided only on that moment. I went wide because when I went to the corner, I had someone coming [on the inside]. Then I lost a little bit the line, so I went a little bit wide.

Q. Where do you think Ferrari stands performance wise? In Monte Carlo there was a feeling that you were really closing up, then Istanbul was a step backwards and here it is difficult to judge. So what do you think?

FM: I don't know. For the moment, we need to look race-by-race. We went to Barcelona and made a fantastic performance there. We went to Monaco as well, and when we went to Turkey it was a bit less than we expected. Then we went to here, and it was really, really difficult. Then in the race we showed a good performance. So I don't know. For me, you have now Red Bull, you have Brawn, and then you have two or three teams who are in a similar position, and for the moment we are inside these teams.

Q. Kimi Raikkonen has suggested that you would not have had as strong a race without KERS - because it helped at the start and the final corner. How do you feel about that?

FM: My start was very good, thanks for the KERS. I did a very good initial start, even without the KERS. I passed Fernando and when I got the power from KERS, I was able to push and pass more cars. So the KERS was a big help for us - although more on the start.

Q. You have KERS and you have an adjustable front wing, but still there is not much overtaking. Are we back in the old situation now?

FM: To be honest, if you look, the idea from the FIA was to reduce the downforce completely from the car. And they did. But then they allowed the diffuser, so everyone is back on the high downforce. It doesn't make any sense.

Q. The British GP showed that the Brawns can be stopped. Is that good for the championship?

FM: Well, yes for sure. For the spectators, for the media, it is interesting to have other teams. It creates a fight, but I would like it to be us. We would like to be in the position of Red Bull and we are not, so for us it does not change a lot. We just need to push a lot to be more competitive and maybe get to the front once.