Q: Felipe, the only driver not to be lapped by the two McLaren Mercedes today. A big win for your opposition, however, over a minute behind them today.
Felipe MASSA: Yeah, McLaren definitely showed incredible pace today. I think that even if I pushed 150 percent on the limit, it would have been the same in the end. They were pretty quick today. There was nothing I could do with them. I could only expect some mistakes or something like that, or maybe a retirement. I was just thinking of finishing third, trying to score as many points as possible. OK, now the gap is a little bit bigger, but five points is nothing in a championship like this, so let’s work hard for the next race. The package for this race made it impossible to catch them, so let’s try to be in front in the next races. Q: You had the same fuel as Fernando; where were they quicker than you in that early phase of the race?
FM: Well, in the beginning, I don’t think Lewis was very quick. I also think he was a little bit heavier and I was just following him, and Fernando was much quicker than us, so that was really the key to the race for Fernando because he managed to create a gap which was a little bit easier to keep after the pit stop. And for me, I was just running behind Lewis for the first 15 laps without problems, and then I just hit traffic, so it was also very difficult for me. I also stayed a lot behind Trulli, a lot behind Davidson. I think Davidson was even penalised because of that. He was maybe ten laps in front of me. He really destroyed my race against them because they were just pulling away and I was behind the traffic. But anyway, I think the result in the end is quite good for me, for the team and we will keep fighting.
Q: And you had a very different tyre strategy with supersoft in the last two stints. Was that a gamble taken at the time, or was that the plan?
FM: When you see that you have nothing more to put into the car to fight, we just needed to fit another set of tyres and see if we could have a better and quicker car, but in the end, it was similar so it was just the lack of pace we had today.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Felipe, bit of a margin between McLaren and Ferrari today – do you think it is down to the long wheel-base of the car?
FM: I don’t know. I think it is difficult to say exactly what the difference was. The only thing you need to say is that they were much better today. So I think looking at the pace, third place was a great result – starting third and finishing third – and just having an intelligent race and thinking of the championship. It is very long and five points is still everything open so let us go to the next races and I am sure our car will be more competitive and let’s make a fantastic race there, but I think today it was amazing to see what these guys were doing and after a while when I saw the difference, the gap, I just started to think about my car, the engine and everything for the next race.
Q: And no worries at all, apart from a moment at the swimming pool?
FM: No, I think the biggest problem today was the traffic. I was stuck many times behind other people and I think that Anthony Davidson took a drive-through (penalty) because of that. I was eight, or nine, laps behind him and I couldn’t get close to pass him and he never let me by and also Trulli was very difficult today. Many of the seconds I lost to the McLaren guys today was because of that, but our car was slow today and so I am just happy to finish on the podium.
Q: But you are expecting to be as competitive in Barcelona again?
FM: Yes, sure. Last year, Renault and McLaren were very quick here and also in Canada and in Indy we were very strong, especially Indy, and also this time we are confident in our package for Canada and Indy so hopefully we can have a great car there and try the best to be in the front.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Rodrigo Franca – Racing Magazine) For all three of you, in the 1980’s, it was famous that Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were four guys who were friends and who were then chasing the title and they stopped being friends… The four of you, including Räikkönen, seem to be friends. Will it be the same when you are chasing the title?
FM: I think first of all, we have a good relationship, but it doesn’t mean we are friends. The other very important thing is that we all have a best friend and it is not always a guy from Formula One, but from other things; maybe a guy who grew up with you or something like that. But I think the relationship is good and everybody respects one another and that is how it has to be. I mean, for sure, a couple of times we are going to have some issues, but that is normal in this sport. But the day after everything is fine, so….
Q: (Marco Evangelisti – Corriere dello Sport) Felipe, during this weekend when did you realise that the McLarens were untouchable?
FM: Honestly, in the qualifying we were a little bit worried with their pace and in the practice we were not 100 per cent sure. We had already seen that this year sometimes they are quick in the test but in the race it is something else, especially in Barcelona, if you see were more competitive in the race and we were much quicker. So, and then, in the qualifying we saw the lap times and we were not 100 per cent sure and the only thing we thought was that maybe they didn’t have a perfect lap in qualifying. In the race, it was clear for everybody...
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Two questions, firstly for Felipe – in Barcelona you were more than 30 seconds in front of these guys and here 69 seconds behind them. You must have some idea why?
FM: No, actually I don’t have. We will see next race. Hopefully, it is something related just to this track which we don’t know. For sure, we are quite happy with our car, it is competitive, but for this track it is not. So hopefully, it is just related to the layout of this track or something not related to the car. Even if you look at Renault, we were not so much quicker this time. Usually on other tracks they are much slower than us. So maybe it is related to our car at this track. But, we don’t know. We need to go to another track and try to understand the problem exactly so it doesn’t happen on a slow track, or something like that. Even in the last sector at Barcelona, we were slow and yet we were the quickest. At the end of the day, it is difficult to explain.
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