It won’t be an easy race for us - Massa
In an unusually cold Shanghai, Felipe Massa went through the usual Thursday ritual of meeting the media. “Here in Shanghai, our car is pretty similar to what we had in Malaysia a fortnight ago, although we have a few aerodynamic updates,” said the Brazilian when quizzed about changes to the Ferrari F60. “It won’t be an easy race for us, but at least the car has taken a small step forward. This means I hope we can be a bit more competitive than we were at the first two races.”
While the Court of Appeal ruling over the matter of the diffusers fitted to six cars on the grid is not a good one for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and the six other teams, Massa maintained it does not change his own personal approach to the season. “My motivation is still the same, to work very hard with the team to improve the car as quickly as possible and to score points as quickly as possible,” Massa said. “I am motivated to start a better championship at this race. We need to work hard now to bring the new parts to the race track as quickly as possible. It won’t be easy because it is going to be a difficult job. Of course, the decision in Paris does not make our life easy in terms of the championship where we effectively have some teams that have a different type of car. It won’t be simple to catch them but I hope it’s not too late to do so. I hope our new car comes in good time to fight for the championship and win some races. You can be sure that we will never give up the fight and I believe in our ability to improve the car. In order to do that, we have made changes to our structure, both at the race track and back in the factory.”
Looking back at the Malaysian Grand Prix, the Ferrari man felt the decision to stop the race was the correct one. “It was so difficult. I started the race with a medium-tint visor, which I usually use, even in the rain, but in Malaysia, it became completely dark and I could not see anything towards the end. That, combined with a lot of aquaplaning made it very difficult, so it was the right decision to stop the race.”
And finally, on a much needed lighter note, Massa was asked why his engineer, Rob Smedley, was heard on the radio in Sepang calling his driver, “Felipe Baby.” “We have a very good relationship, even if I don’t feel like a baby!” laughed Felipe. “But at difficult times, you can use funny words. Rob does have a very young son now, so maybe he was getting confused!”
