Massa frustrated by Ferrari’s strategic error

Author of a solid race at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Felipe Massa ultimately finished only eighth when a better position seemed possible. The Ferrari driver believes that the choice of tires for his last stint was the key to this underperformance.

Quoted by our colleagues at F1plus, the Brazilian does not hesitate to talk about a strategic error: « We made a mistake. I did not expect to use the mediums during the last stint. » On the question of responsibility, the 2008 vice-champion believes it primarily belongs to Scuderia: « I did not discuss it [with the team] because, for me, it was obvious. We were going to put on the softs. It’s the best, at the beginning of the race I was the best car on soft tires. I expected to see the soft tires on the car and I saw the others. Without this problem, I would have easily finished in the top 5. »

Felipe Massa believes that this choice destroyed his Grand Prix: « It’s frustrating, I am not happy today because I had a great race, fighting all the time and overtaking cars. It was a very good race and I did not finish in the position where I was supposed to. » Despite everything, the Paulista puts on a brave face and believes that his race allowed him to showcase himself while his future is still at stake: « It’s a bit frustrating, but I think I showed a good race and a good pace. »

Dominant over his teammate during the qualifications and two-thirds of the race, F. Massa refutes any conspiracy theory, believing that the team had no interest in having Fernando Alonso absolutely ahead of him: « The team needs points, and the team would never do that to me. It didn’t even cross my mind that the team would do something like that to me. I believe in the team and will believe in it until the last moment, but today the first thing I say is that it was a mistake because we could have scored more points today. »

Indeed, Ferrari, by scoring 14 points at the seventeenth round of the 2013 world championship, lost ground on Mercedes in the constructor standings and now trails the star brand by 11 points. However, the Scuderia benefited from Kimi Räikkönen’s retirement at Lotus to regain two points on the Enstone team, which is now 26 points behind the Prancing Horse. All this, with two races remaining in the season.