Ferrari driver Felipe Massa had his best race of the 2009 season last weekend when he went from eleventh on the grid to fifth place at the finish of the British Grand Prix. Now he has a three week break to refresh and refocus before taking part in round nine of the season, the German Grand Prix.

Due to the fact that the two German venues, Hockenheim and Nurburgring, have been forced to alternate, the Nurburgring hasn’t had an F1 event in two years, however Felipe can easily remember the duel he had with Fernando Alonso in the last event where he eventually crossed the line in P2.

“Next we go to the Nurburgring, where we have not been for two years. But I can still remember the 2007 event, where I had a great race and would have won, but it rained in the last few laps and I really struggled on my rain tyres that were giving me a lot of vibration,” he said. “That allowed Alonso to catch me and we had a good fight, then we touched each other and he got past and I had to settle for second. It was a shame as the race was in my pocket until the conditions changed. All the same it was a good result and I’d shown good pace, setting the race fastest lap.”

However due to the new aero regulations for this year’s championship, the Brazilian driver is unsure how they will fare on the German track...

“As we haven’t been there for a while, it’s hard to tell if the Nurburgring will suit our car, but it is a good track and maybe the KERS should be more useful there than it was in Silverstone. Whatever happens, I hope we can have some more developments on the car for that race and I look forward to having a good weekend there,” he said.

As there is a longer than normal break before the German round, Felipe has taken the opportunity to fly home to Brazil, which he did a few hours after the British GP on the Sunday night. He will remain at home for almost two weeks before heading to Maranello for some meetings before finally making the trip to Germany.