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Formula One
F1: Massa Beats Alonso On Comeback
Felipe Massa seems to be back to his old form...
Adam Cooper  | http://www.speedtv.com  |  Posted March 13, 2010   Sakhir (BHR)
In his first Grand Prix after missing most of last season due to injury, Felipe Massa took the second starting spot. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Felipe Massa celebrated his racing comeback in the best possible way by out qualifying team mate Fernando Alonso in Bahrain Saturday.

Alonso was faster in Q1 and Q2 but Massa got ahead by nearly 0.4s when it mattered. The Spaniard said he had lost time in a couple of corners, but still earned third place.

“I think it is very nice to be back here racing competitively and in a good direction,” said Massa. “I feel very happy to be back after such a difficult time. I was watching the races on television and was pretty excited but it is much better to be sat in the car.

“I prepared myself in a good direction, testing, driving go-karts, everything was great to be back in the car for racing and if you look at what happened last season with us I think it is a good start to the season for us.

“After a difficult season, where we finished in the last race and where we are starting the season in the first race is always great for the team, great for the guys who did a very tough job inside the factory since a long time, so I feel really positive to start on the first race second.

“We are second and third and for the team that is really great and we will see how we doing in the race. Red Bull and also some other teams are really strong, so the race will be very difficult but I am very happy to be here fighting for the top.”

Massa said he was confident after testing that he would have a good car for the start of the season.

“For sure, when I did all the first tests, I expected a good car to drive. For sure for the car the most important thing to think about was how the championship was going to be, and I was quite comfortable driving the car in the first test and the second test and also in Barcelona, so for sure I expected to be competitive.

“I expected to come here and fight for a good position: first, second, fifth, whatever. I expected to be competitive and I think it’s pretty much been in that direction.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 25th season as a racing journalist in 2009. Born in London, England, he saw his first F1 race at age 10 in 1976. He began freelancing for Autosport magazine in 1985 and was on the fulltime staff from 1987-92. He then went freelance again, initially spending two years in Japan before following the 1994 Champcar series from a base in Indianapolis. He has not missed a Grand Prix since Suzuka ‘94, a run that has extended to Abu Dhabi ’09. Adam has written books about Eddie Irvine, Piers Courage and Michael Schumacher and hosts a race preview show on Sirius XM. He has written about F1 for SPEEDtv.com since 2005. Check out Adam's Blog or follow him on Twitter

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