Massa urges Williams to fix reliability issues
Felipe Massa was upbeat following his debut today in a Williams. He does admit though that the cars is very different to drive compared to his 2013 Ferrari.
The Brazilian ran with Mercedes engines for the first time in his Formula One career after having run with Ferrari's, both at Sauber and Scuderia Ferrari itself. A few gremlins however somewhat hampered progress.
"We didn’t do as many laps as we expected to do. Unfortunately many times you have a little issue and it takes a lot of time to change. Others are struggling more than us but I’m happy with the day, I'm happy with the first feeling and the first impression with the team, driving the car, the engine, the car itself, the tyres, gearbox, everything."
He did applaud Williams for being a professional team, but stresses that the reliability issues, however small, must be addressed quickly, as being ahead of the competition in terms of reliability could deliver podiums early on in the season.
"For sure everybody has problems to solve, everybody has some little issues and we have [too]. It’s something we need to fix as quickly as possible. The first races will be very important to finish, if you finish the first races you have a chance to score good amount of points or even a podium. We need to look for long runs and reliability, to fix all the little issues that can make you stop the car in the race. Performance is always important but reliability is maybe a little more important."
Finally he said he said that apart from the obvious difference in behaviour due to the reduced downforce and different engines, he feels like Formula One is now a fight between three engine manucturers. He said that it's still too early to judge real performance differences, but he says the difference in sound alone shows how each manufacturer has sought for different solutions.
"I'm not talking about performance, I just mean the noise. Everything is different. Its difficult to understand who has done the better job."
