Rear wheel hampers Massa's qualifying
The result of qualifying for the British Grand Prix did not match the expectations of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. While Kimi Raikkonen managed to secure a good third spot on the starting grid, Felipe Massa is only ninth. The current series leader was unable to make his second timed run because of a problem changing the right rear wheel, which meant he was unable to cross the line before the chequered flag came out.
K. Raikkonen: 3rd 1.21.706 6 laps chassis 270
F. Massa: 9th 1.23.305 4 laps chassis 267
Weather: air temperature 24/23 °C, track temperature 29/31 °C, cloudy.
"This is definitely not the result we expected nor the one we wanted," commented Team Principal of the Gestione Sportiva, Stefano Domenicali. "Problems such as the one that befell Felipe are serious and I am very sorry for him as we prevented him from giving it his best shot. On top of that, we need to understand why our performance, even taking into account all the unknowns regarding the various strategy choices, was not up to our usual standard. Nevertheless, this is only Saturday afternoon and we still have the race ahead of us. We are up against very strong opponents, but we will also be doing our utmost to bring home a good result."
Kimi Raikkonen: "Third is not the result we were hoping for, but it's not to be sneezed at, as we always have to take into consideration that the final score only comes tomorrow, when we have worked out what fuel loads the other drivers have. Compared to yesterday, the situation is definitely better. We worked a lot on the car set-up and, especially in Q3 the balance wasn't bad. There was a lot of wind, which made it hard to fully understand the track because the conditions were changing all the time. In race trim, we have a good car and I think tomorrow I can get a good result. The rain? We saw this morning that we are also competitive in the wet, so we are ready for any eventuality. Well done to Heikki for his first pole position."
Felipe Massa: "It's a real shame ending up ninth on the grid because of a problem with my pit stop. I lost so much time as the mechanics had trouble changing the right rear wheel and I was unable to start my second run. I think I could have done a good time, maybe not enough to take pole but at least good enough for a place on the front two rows. There was a lot of wind today and the balance of the car was not as good as yesterday and we were not as quick as at last week's test. Tomorrow I can definitely expect to be fighting all race long to move up the order and I will do all I can to bring home a good result: but it won't be easy."
Luca Baldisserri: "This is definitely not a pleasing result, both in terms of performance and of the work of the team. What happened at Felipe's pit stop, which incidentally has nothing in common with what happened on the grid at the Monaco Grand Prix, will have to be investigated thoroughly as we cannot let it happen again. Compared with last week's test it seems we have taken a step backwards and this is another thing we will have to look at and try to understand. Having said that, in evaluating this result we have to keep in mind that this is one of the circuits where the weight of fuel has a greater influence on lap times and therefore, we will only see tomorrow how things really stand. Anything can happen at this track in the race, even more so if it should rain. We will try and make the best out of our situation."
