Confident we can have a better weekend - Massa

F1 Grand Prix, GP Malaysia, Sepang International Circuit

One hour before the traditional rain storm hit the Sepang circuit, Felipe Massa was one of the drivers called to the official FIA press conference at the track. Given that he was sharing the panel with, amongst others, Jenson Button, inevitably, his thrilling fight with the Englishman in the opening laps of the Australian P, was the first thing the Ferrari driver was asked about.

“Thanks to the KERS I was able to fight very hard to keep Jenson behind me,” recalled Massa. “I made good use of KERS on the straight where he was very quick, using the adjustable wing and I also used it through the corners, managing the system well. Then he passed me on the wrong side and, to be honest, I expected him to give me the place back, but after Alonso passed me it would have been more difficult for him to do that.”

Massa has an unusual record here, as he has often gone well in qualifying, twice starting from pole, but often his best races have come when he has had a poor grid position. “Last year for example, I was almost last on the grid, after going out in Q1,” he said. “And then I had a very good race to finish seventh, so I hope that this year we can get it right for both qualifying and the race!” The Ferrari man had recently expressed his concern that overtaking at this track would be too easy if the FIA opted to allow the DRS to be used on both straights. “But the decision has been taken to use just the main straight, so I think that will be fair,” he said. Regarding the weekend, Massa believes the Ferrari 150º Italia will perform better than in Melbourne. “We spent the last two weeks analysing our Australian data and we know the direction to start here and I hope it produces a more competitive car. In Australia in qualifying, there was a big difference to Red Bull and also I was too aggressive in my set-up, so we will change that for this race. We can expect better speed and I am confident we can have a better weekend.”

Red Bull stated they had not used KERS in the opening round, but they planned to have it here in Malaysia, so Felipe was asked if this would make them uncatchable. “It’s a bit early to kill the championship!” he stated. “It’s difficult to comment about other teams, but I know that on our car, without the KERS, we lose lap time.”