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"Our car is better than it looked in
Melbourne and it is hard to explain exactly
why we failed to deliver," says Felipe
Massa, "which is why we have to arrive in
Malaysia with the car we actually built, not
the car we raced last weekend." |
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"I arrived home in Sao
Paolo on Monday and looking back at the weekend, after
what seemed like a long time of preparation and testing,
it felt good to have finally gone racing again in
Melbourne, because while developing the car in testing
is enjoyable work, the thing we drivers like best is
fighting against other drivers on track," says Ferrari's
Felipe Massa. "The Australian Grand Prix did not go the
way myself and the team had expected, as we were not as
competitive as we had thought we would be, based on the
winter performance. If there is one lesson we take away
with us after the opening round is that we have a lot of
work to do. We urgently need to find out exactly what
happened in Australia, understanding what we did and
what the other teams did. We did not come away with as
many points as we thought we could score in the first
race, so we have to get back to where we want to be by
the next race.
"I was asked many times over last weekend what surprised
me most, the pace of the Red Bulls or of the McLarens.
The answer is that I was more surprised by Red Bull,
because what Vettel did in qualifying was very
impressive. It’s true that McLaren seemed to have made a
step forward, but Red Bull was really far ahead of
everyone else. As for ourselves, our car is better than
it looked in Melbourne and it is hard to explain exactly
why we failed to deliver, which is why we have to arrive
in Malaysia with the car we actually built, not the car
we raced last weekend.
"We did not have to wait long to see the effect of the
adjustable rear wing and KERS on the racing, with my
fight in the early part with Jenson. You could see he
could get much closer to me on the straight: even if he
did not manage to get very close on the previous corner,
by the end of the straight he was alongside me. Clearly
the rear wing helped him, although in the end, he only
got past me by cutting the corner. During the battle, I
feel I did a very good job of defending my position by
using KERS, knowing how to save the power until it was
time to use it at exactly the right moment so he could
not get past. But it’s definitely easier to be the
attacker than the defender in this situation. I’m sure
it was exciting for the spectators and it was a shame
that after the incident I did not have the pace to keep
fighting him. I expected him to give back the position
after he got by, because the rules are clear you must do
this if you cut a chicane and Jenson is experienced
enough to know that, without having to wait for the team
to tell him what to do. After he got by, Alonso also got
past me, as I ended up being quite slow because of the
fight with Jenson. And given that Fernando pitted before
me, that left Jenson with another chance to give me back
position but he did not. Later in the race, I passed
Buemi, because I had better tyres than him and I could
use the wing as well. To be honest it was not that easy,
because even if the wing helped me get close I could not
pull alongside, as we did not have the best top speed
last weekend, but in the end, I braked much later than
him because of the better tyres and got by that way.
"Now I am spending just a few days in Brazil, for what
is my last visit here for a few months and it is also
useful to help prepare for the next race in Malaysia, as
it is very hot at the moment in Sao Paolo. Then on
Sunday, I fly to Kuala Lumpur when I hope that we can
begin to prepare for a more competitive race weekend."
Ferrari at the Malaysian Grand Prix
Facts and figures4 - The number of
times a Maranello car has failed to see the chequered
flag in Sepang. On two occasions, with Barrichello in
2002 and Alonso last year, it was down to engine
failure, once it was tyre problems (Barrichello in 2005)
and in 2008 Massa spun out.
6 - Top ten finishes for Fernando Alonso from nine starts
in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Fernando’s record here
includes two wins, one second place and one third. It
was here in Sepang in 2003 that the Spaniard secured the
first of his twenty pole positions to date.
7 - Pole positions for the Scuderia in the Malaysian Grand
Prix: five for Michael Schumacher (the first four of
them consecutively, from ’99 to 2002) and two for Felipe
Massa, who was fastest in qualifying in 2007 and 2008.
11 - Podium finishes for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro from 24
starts: five wins, three second places and the same
number of thirds. The first three runnings of this race
saw both Ferraris finish on the podium: a one-two in
1999 and 2001, first and third in 2000.
13 - The number of fastest laps set so far by Felipe
Massa, the most recent in Melbourne in the first race of
this season and all of them at the wheel of a Ferrari.
The Brazilian is now twentieth overall in this
classification, alongside Montoya, Jones and Patrese.
Felipe is fourth in the list of Ferrari drivers, equal
with Clay Regazzoni: Michael Schumacher is first (53,)
Kimi Raikkonen second (16) and Rubens Barrichello is
third (15.)
20 - The number of races Fernando Alonso has driven at the
wheel of a Ferrari. Of those, he has finished on the
podium ten times, including five wins and he has failed
to make the top ten on only three occasions. Fernando
has scored points in the last seven races with his last
zero score dating back to last year’s Belgian Grand
Prix.
226 - The number of fastest race laps set by a Ferrari
driver. The Scuderia heads the overall classification by
a significant margin: McLaren is second on 143 and
Williams third on 129.
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