Massa: Brilliant Start Made my Race

Brazilian Felipe Massa claimed a brilliant start allowed him to clinch his third point-scoring finish in Formula One at Sunday's European Grand Prix.

The young Sauber driver took the start from 11th place on the grid, but was very quick off the line and overtook his own teammate Nick Heidfeld at the first corner. Rookie Massa eventually went on to finish in sixth position despite making some small errors during the race.

"I made a brilliant start, and made my race by the first corner," said Massa. "The car was really good and our strategy worked well for us. My only problem was that I had a big vibration on my second set of tyres and that made it easy to make mistakes.

"I made a couple but I recovered each time without losing any places. Nick pushed me hard but I felt quite comfortable. After Brazil's success in the World Cup on Friday, this point is another great bonus this weekend for me."

Teammate Heidfeld, unlike Massa, admitted that he lost all chances of finishing in the points at the start of the event. The German driver fought back after his disappointing getaway but could only finish in seventh place right behind the other Sauber.

"I lost my point at the start, when Felipe overtook me," said Heidfeld. "It was as simple as that. My car was good this afternoon, and the two of us were very close after our pit stops. My one chance to pass him came in the first corner as he left the pits after his stop, but Ralf Schumacher was right in front of me so I had to brake to avoid him, and that was that.

"After that we got close a few times, and though naturally I was aware that I was fighting my teammate, with all that that implies, I tried as hard as possible. Like I said, it was close, but just not close enough."