Formula 1 News

Felipe Massa ready to face rivals at Silverstone 

“Having spent a few days at home after Silverstone testing, I am now preparing to head back to England for the British Grand Prix and the chance to face our closest rivals on their home circuit in front of their home crowd. Although I have to say, I have always noticed that Ferrari seems to be very popular with the crowds here.”

“I like Silverstone which has been a good circuit for me, but I hope I don’t have to have such a tough race as I did last year: I had a problem in qualifying, started from the back and had to work my way all through the field to finish fifth in the end. Last to fifth was not bad, but I would prefer to start from the front and stay there, rather than have to fight my way through the field. In fact, an F1 magazine has just done a survey that shows I did more overtaking than any other driver in F1 last year. I think I am right in saying that I was also the guy with the most overtaking moves in 2007. This year, I think that is also the case, especially if you look at how many cars I passed at the Canadian Grand Prix. That is part of my driving style, which is a bit aggressive. It’s not so easy and to be honest I would prefer not to do any overtaking because I am in the lead, so this statistic can be seen as a negative as it means I need to overtake.”

“Although I like the fast and flowing nature of this circuit, apart from the final section, last year’s fifth place was a repeat of my finishing position in 2006 and they are my best results at this event, so there is plenty of potential to finally do something better this time.”

“I am sure we will be competitive in the race. At last week’s test, we tried some new components and assessed new things on set up and made some mechanical improvements. I was quite happy with the balance of the F2008, so it’s looking good. But we must never underestimate our competitors because they are working very hard and it’s all very close.”

“I think in France, we never really saw the pace of the McLarens as they were always stuck in traffic, having started behind. So we cannot say we were so much stronger than them in Magny-Cours. Silverstone can throw up a few surprises and even if we don’t have typical English rain, there can still be strong side winds even in warm dry weather and this means you have to be careful as the wind can catch you out and destabilise the car through some of the quick sections. But this is the same for everyone, so there is no reason to think I cannot have another good race weekend and finally make it onto the Silverstone podium on Sunday.”

source: Ferrari