Massa Hails 'Almost Perfect' Qualifying

Brazilian driver Felipe Massa was delighted after qualifying in fourth position ahead of tomorrow's inaugural Chinese Grand Prix.

"P4 is really good. For me it was almost a perfect qualifying session," said the Sauber driver, who achieved his best career grid position in today's qualifying at the Shanghai circuit.

"The new Bridgestones worked so well straight away, and I was able to drive a lap without any graining. If it was this good for me in qualifying, I know that it can be stronger still when the track is in even better condition tomorrow, so I'm looking ahead to a competitive race.

"This is a fantastic result for the team, which just keeps growing and growing. It's a tribute to the work Bridgestone has done, but also to all the guys back in the wind tunnel in Hinwil and the crew here in China."

Massa, whose previous best qualifying performance was a seventh place, outqualified his Italian teammate Giancarlo Fisichella, who completed a very strong day for Sauber with the seventh fastest time of the session despite suffering from tyre graining.

"Unfortunately for me the track conditions changed slightly since this morning, so right from the beginning of the lap my tyres grained and the car began understeering quite strongly," said Fisichella. "I tried to be easy on it in the second sector, but the understeer was still there in the final corners.

"Nevertheless, seventh place is a good starting position and I am feeling confident of challenging for points tomorrow afternoon."