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Written by:
Adam Cooper
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RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
03/22/2008 - 12:22 PM
Sepang, Malaysia
Massa and Ferrari were back on top after qualifying. (LAT photo) » More Photos
Felipe Massa had a nightmare of a weekend in Australia, starting fourth, hitting the tire wall on the first lap, colliding with David Coulthard, and finally blowing his engine. In contrast in Malaysia he has been quick from the off, and secured pole with a great lap. This is what he had to say afterward to the media.
Q: Felipe, a beautiful lap to watch. You were a half second quicker than your team-mate in Q3 but a little bit slower in Q2. Talk us through that.
"I managed to make a fantastic lap in Q3, which is the most important one. I did a great lap the first try and the second try without a mistake. In Q2 I didn’t make very good laps and I was struggling a little bit on the grip from the tires on the lap. Also I didn’t do a very good last sector as well just braking a little bit too early at turn 14. It was just stupid mistakes. Not really mistakes but just a stupid lap. Then I managed to put everything together in Q3 and did a great lap."
Q: Apart from the disappointments of Melbourne, you obviously felt confident coming here with a different track surface and with Ferrari having such a great record here…
"Definitely. Our championship is starting now. What happened in the last race was incredible and we didn’t expect that. We did a very good job during the winter but coming to the first race and having a lot of problems like we had was not expected. But hopefully now we can manage to put everything together to have a very consistent, quick and good championship."
Q: There was a lot of talk before qualifying about the potential for rain here on Saturday and perhaps even tomorrow. How did that affect the preparation for qualifying and the way you ran qualifying?
"To be honest, it did not affect it too much. You just needed to be starting the session by going out straight away, so if it was raining at least you could put one lap on paper. Everybody did that. You saw at the beginning of the qualifying everybody going out, just a little bit afraid that if the rain comes, at least you had a lap; so I think it was not a big difference compared to a normal qualifying."
Q: And what were the conditions like right at the end there?
"It was OK. We had a couple of [rain] drops but it did not affect the performance on the track, so it was no problem at all."
Q: Every race win you have had, has been from pole, so this is a good start to the weekend. This is always a difficult race physically for the drivers. Perhaps you could reflect on both those points and how you anticipate the race is going to be from a physical point of view tomorrow?
"The race will be very physical here. It is not only physical, but it is also very hot. The humidity we have here is so high and you lose a lot of water from the body. For sure, when you get from the middle to the end of the race you start to feel it a little bit, just because you are sweating so much. But I am really looking forward to having a strong race and strong physical preparation as well."
Q: Your best position here is fifth – once from pole last year and once from 21st a couple of years ago. What are your feelings about tomorrow -- particularly the start, if you remember from last year?
"My thought is to change the best result I have. Hopefully we can repeat what we did today, which was a very good job
Massa and Ferrari were back on top after qualifying. (LAT photo) » More Photos
Q: Presumably total confidence in the engine. No problems and no further feelings from last weekend?
"For sure, I am looking forward to having a very reliable car. It was a very bad result we had in the last race, not just the engine but also the race itself was a problem, and the qualifying with Kimi. It was definitely a weekend to forget. We think we know what we are doing now. We think we know how it is going to be during the race in terms of reliability with all the preparations the engineers are doing, so hopefully we can have two very reliable races now with the same engine."
Q: What are your weather predictions? How much were you slightly worried about rain in qualifying?
"I think everybody was a little bit worried but I just managed to be one of the first cars to go out just to try to at least make a lap in case something really different happens and the rain comes. At least you have a lap and you can jump to the next qualifying. But at the end of the day the rain didn’t come, although at the end of Q3 we had a couple of drops but it didn’t affect the track, so it was no problem at all."
Q: What are your weather predictions and how much were you worried about rain in qualifying?
"I think everybody was a bit worried but we just managed to be one of the first cars to go out, just to try to at least make a lap if something really different happened, if the rain came, so at least you would have a lap and maybe you can jump to the next qualifying. At the end of the day, the rain didn’t come. At the end of Q3 we had a couple of drops but it didn’t affect the track, so it was no problem at all."
Q: Last year you had Alonso beside you, now you have your teammate beside you, even if you have to expect that Kimi will push. Do you feel more comfortable now?
"No, it doesn’t matter. You always try to do the best start you can, you always try to stay in front at the first corner. Last year it was not possible. I will just try to do better this year. I should have a good start, so let’s hope and see if we can keep the same position tomorrow."
Q: You were one of the first to say that it would be tricky to drive in the wet without traction control. Now many drivers agree with you. Do you think it was a mistake to take traction control off the cars?
I don’t think it was a mistake. I think – if I need to give my opinion – I think we should have a safe setting for everybody for the wet, because if we have a situation like in Japan last year, maybe we’re not going to have any cars finishing the race! I think there’s always room to improve. In the dry it’s quite nice to drive the cars without traction control; it’s not a big problem, but in the wet it will be different. There’s always room to improve. We just need to see how it’s going to be the first time in the rain. But you know, just from having the feeling of driving in the wet in winter testing was not so easy."
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