Williams Formula 1 team's Hungarian GP slump baffles Felipe Massa

Felipe Massa says he is at a loss as to why his Williams Formula 1 team was so far off the pace in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix

Williams Formula 1 team's Hungarian GP slump baffles Felipe Massa

Massa and team-mate Valtteri Bottas ran one-two in the opening stint of the previous race at Silverstone, but found themselves out of the points at the Hungaroring with Massa 12th and Bottas 13th.

"The pace was really, really bad," said Massa. "I don't know why.

"We were slow, especially me, behind in the traffic, especially with the prime [medium] tyres.

"I couldn't drive at all, we were missing the overall grip on the car.

"I think maybe the best stint was the last one when I was free with the option [soft] tyres but even like that I was not quick.

"I was struggling a lot with the pace and not good at all."

Williams's car was not expected to be suited to the twisty nature of the Hungaroring, especially after both the team failed to score on the tight streets of Monaco.

But the concern for Williams performance chief Rob Smedley was the drop in form between qualifying and the race, after Bottas and Massa had started sixth and eighth respectively.

"I don't think that we should start concentrating on it being a track layout thing or a slow speed thing," he said.

"We know that this wasn't going to be our best circuit, but all weekend we haven't been as bad as we were on Sunday.

"So I think that we've got to go away and understand exactly what went wrong.

"Whether or not because of the cooler temperatures and therefore the cooler core or bulk temperatures, we generated more surface damage, more graining, more tearing in the compound is something we'll have to go and see."

Massa remains hopeful the team's performance was a one-off and Williams will bounce back in Belgium.

"I'm 100 per cent confident [it was a one-off]," he said. "What happened I don't think we will see every race.

"We were very strong at the last race, fighting for the podium, even for the first place.

"But we need to understand as we have another slow circuit, which is Singapore, coming up.

"So we have to do everything we can to be as competitive as we can.

"But we will have many good tracks. It's definitely not a problem and I'm sure we will be back on our tracks that are good for us."

shares
comments

Full Formula 1 fan survey results revealed

Force India F1 team confident in design after Hungarian GP failures

How Vasseur has begun Ferrari’s mission to keep Leclerc on side

How Vasseur has begun Ferrari’s mission to keep Leclerc on side

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
GP Racing

How Vasseur has begun Ferrari’s mission to keep Leclerc on side How Vasseur has begun Ferrari’s mission to keep Leclerc on side

Why Red Bull’s biggest F1 adversary is now itself

Why Red Bull’s biggest F1 adversary is now itself

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Jonathan Noble

Why Red Bull’s biggest F1 adversary is now itself Why Red Bull’s biggest F1 adversary is now itself

How "only tough" Tost's public lack of trust could hurt AlphaTauri

How "only tough" Tost's public lack of trust could hurt AlphaTauri

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

How "only tough" Tost's public lack of trust could hurt AlphaTauri How "only tough" Tost's public lack of trust could hurt AlphaTauri

What Perez's Jeddah joy means for F1’s 2023 hopes for a real title fight

What Perez's Jeddah joy means for F1’s 2023 hopes for a real title fight

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Alex Kalinauckas

What Perez's Jeddah joy means for F1’s 2023 hopes for a real title fight What Perez's Jeddah joy means for F1’s 2023 hopes for a real title fight

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Alex Kalinauckas

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2023

How Perez kept Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP surge at bay

How Perez kept Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP surge at bay

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Jake Boxall-Legge

How Perez kept Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP surge at bay How Perez kept Verstappen’s Saudi Arabian GP surge at bay

The enormous job facing F1 for its Vegas gamble to pay off

The enormous job facing F1 for its Vegas gamble to pay off

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
GP Racing

The enormous job facing F1 for its Vegas gamble to pay off The enormous job facing F1 for its Vegas gamble to pay off

Testing times for Vasseur, but the true challenge at Ferrari is about to come

Testing times for Vasseur, but the true challenge at Ferrari is about to come

Plus
Plus
Formula 1
Saudi Arabian GP
Jonathan Noble

Testing times for Vasseur, but the true challenge at Ferrari is about to come Testing times for Vasseur, but the true challenge at Ferrari is about to come