Felipe Massa silenced all the critics with a textbook victory in Bahrain, putting his disappointments of the first two races behind him. He didn’t get it right in qualifying but in the race he crucially jumped Robert Kubica at the start, and then withstood enormous pressure from Kimi Raikkonen for the duration of the race, the pair frequently trading fastest laps. After the race he admitted to the media that he has not had an easy time of late…
Q: Your second win in a row here starting second this time. Talk us through your race.
"It didn’t change anything starting second because we had a good a start. I think Robert didn’t have a good start and I passed him. Then the race was pretty difficult in the beginning because there was a lot of oil on the track. We almost went off, me and Robert, and it was pretty difficult. During the race the car was just very good. I didn’t push completely to the limit because I saw the gap increasing and then Kimi was behind but I could manage to keep the gap to him and the strategy was perfect as well."
Q: It looked like you were having a bit of a fight there with your teammate Kimi Raikkonen trading fastest laps in the midpoint of the race. But at the end of the day you had a lot in hand, as you say. Can you tell us a little bit about your mindset coming into this race having had difficult weekends first in Australia and Malaysia, but then coming to Bahrain where you won last year?
"For sure I have not had very easy weeks, but that’s life. It’s not the first time and won’t be the last one as well. You have some bad days in your life. I had two bad days in the first two races but I know that we are quick. When you make a mistake and you are behind it means that something is wrong but when you make a mistake and you are fighting for the victory that’s better. For sure the race was pretty difficult because I didn’t want to make any mistakes. I didn’t push as much either, just tried to bring the car home and just controlling the pace as well. But for sure I had a lot of time to think what’s happened in the last race. That’s pretty normal. But I am sure now it’s in the past and what is in the past is one victory and that will help for the next race."
Q: I guess you love this circuit….
"Yes, I love this circuit. It is my second victory in a row. I have always gone very strong here. I remember in my first year, in 2006 with Ferrari, I almost made the pole position but was stuck in traffic in qualifying. Then I didn’t have a very lucky race but I was always very strong, so I like the circuit. They are nice people here and we are always welcome, so it is nice to be here and get the second victory."
Q: We now return to Europe and the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona. A great position for Ferrari with some momentum but it looks like it is going to be a very close season.
"Yeah, for sure it will be a very competitive season. We are going on now to Barcelona which is a track we pretty much like going to. Our car behaves very well on these kinds of tracks, so I am looking forward to a very strong pace in the next few races and hopefully when we go to Monaco we will see if our car has really improved in the slow corners or not compared to last year. I think we are going in the right direction for the races coming up.
Q: You must want the championship to start here and not have those two previous races. It seems to have gone much better here than it has in the previous two races.
"This is a nice track which I like. I am always very strong here, starting from Friday with a very strong pace all the sessions. That carries on with qualifying and for the race. Even the qualifying was very good, even if it doesn’t look like that because we started second. But looking at the fuel we had on board it was a fantastic lap as well. I just had very good pace and a very good car in the race. It was a little bit tricky at the beginning when we faced a lot of oil on the track. Turns 5, 6, 8 and 10 were full of oil on the line. I went off line and Robert came behind me, so it was quite difficult. But then as the track cleaned up we had a pretty good race and I was able to save a lot with my car. The car was responding fantastically."
Q: Much has been said about the dirty side and the clean side of the grid but you seemed to make the better start off the dirty side.
"I had a very good start and I think Robert didn’t have a very good start. I saw him having a lot of wheelspin in his car, so for sure I got a better start and was able to pass him straight away."
Q: So what are you feelings about winning two Bahrain Grands Prix in a row?
"Very nice. I like the place, like I said, the track. The people are always very welcoming here. It is very nice to have a second victory in a row and the first points in the championship."
Q: Last year you did the same in Barcelona as you did here. Is that a circuit that is as good for you as this circuit?
"Yeah, I think so. I think Barcelona is a nice circuit. I like the circuit as well, so I think we have very good circuits ahead of us where our car always behaves very well, so I’m really looking forward to being strong again in Barcelona and Turkey, hopefully in Monaco as well."
Q: You have had two difficult weeks with a lot of criticism but you came here and won, the same thing has happened last year in Bahrain. How can you manage to react so well under extreme pressure?
"Well, I’ve had many bad days in my life. It’s not the first one and it won’t be the last one, so I was really in a difficult moment of my career but not in Formula 1, maybe when I was fired from Sauber, maybe when I had money to do one race and then if I didn’t win I couldn’t do the second one in Formula Renault. It was much more difficult than my situation now, so I don’t care what’s happened over the last weeks.
“I think it is part of the job for the journalists to write. They need to write something, so one day they write about you and one day they write about someone else and that’s life. So it won’t change anything. It won’t change what you think, the team you race for is thinking, and that’s perfect. Our job inside the team is fantastic and that’s important. The other things are not important, so that’s why for sure if I need to chose I prefer people who say good things about me, not bad things, but even if they say bad things, I prefer to hear what my team thinks about me and not other people, so I’m fine and for sure I have got a lot of energy for this race from Brazil, from my family, my wife and that’s important. "
Q: We saw Jacques Villeneuve in your pit during these last few days. Could you explain to us how your relationship is with him; in the end he brought you luck?
"I remember in my first year in Formula 1 he was complaining about me all the time. He doesn’t like young drivers, so he was always complaining about young drivers, all the meetings, everything and I didn’t know why -- and I was never a big fan of his because of that -- and then we started working together and he became very friendly and I was not so friendly. Then he apologized for everything he had said about me, and then we started a very nice relationship. He’s a very nice guy, and he was here in a very easy-going way and watching the session from the Ferrari pit. He never raced for Ferrari, but he said it was nice to be in the Ferrari garage and see how people worked and see the atmosphere and even the food… I think it was more because of the food!”
