Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro came away from the Belgian Grand Prix with just a fourth place, thanks to a strong performance from Felipe Massa in a race that was incident filled and run in changeable weather
It wasn’t exactly the outcome the Ferrari Formula One team were looking for in this afternoon’s Belgian grand prix when only one of their drivers crossed the finish line.
Felipe Massa, who started the Spa Francorchamps circuit in fifth position, finished the rain affected forty four lap event in fourth place, the Brazilian putting in a very solid and strong performance in what turned out to be very challenging conditions.
“I think this is a positive result and, given the way the race went and the accidents that put Vettel and Button out of the game, we can even say we were a bit lucky,” he said. “This weekend, Red Bull and McLaren were stronger than us, but we worked well as a team, making the right choices before and during the race.”
“Our set-up was a bit more efficient in the dry, while we suffered a bit in the wet, especially in the middle sector, while in the first two we were reasonably competitive. Now we go to Monza, for our home race: we hope to do well at a track where speed and stability under braking count for a lot. We will continue to fight right to the end, even if the situation in the championship is ever more compromised.”
Meanwhile, it wasn’t really teammate Fernando Alonso’s afternoon when everything that could go wrong did. The Spanish driver was the innocent victim of an incident with the Williams of Rubens Barrichello who T-boned him at the Bus Stop on the opening lap, forcing him to come in for unscheduled pit stop.
Despite this setback, he staged a great climb back up the order, even with yet another pit stop to change back from wets to slicks as the rain stopped and then a close encounter with Vettel later on the race as the two almost collided in pitlane. However, it was all to no avail as he eventually spun out of the race lap 38, just six laps from the end.
“The first of the seven “finals” went badly for me and for two of the other five finalists, while the remaining two got the maximum results: that means we will have to make up the ground lost today somewhere else. At the start, I immediately made up some places and the signs were that I could have a good race,” he said.
“Then, I found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time, when Rubens could not control his car under braking and crashed into me. I came straight back to the pits to change the tyres and to check the car was alright, when we fitted intermediate tyres, expecting more persistent and harder rain, but that was not the case.”
“Yesterday we were hoping for rain, but when it came it was already too late to be of much use to me; on the contrary it prevented me from getting the chance to overtake the cars which would have had to stop to fit the soft tyres.”
“Then I went off the track, when I went over a kerb and that was my race over: a shame even if the points I could have brought home would not have been a lot. It is very disappointing, because this is a bad result, but it does not mean I have given up on my chances of winning the title.”
After thirteen races, the positions in the two classifications remain the same, but the gaps to the leaders in both the Drivers’ and the Constructors’ are now more significant.
“This weekend definitely did not end well for us, even if Felipe’s fourth place, at the end of an impeccable and error free race in conditions that were far from easy, is an important result,” said Stefano Domenicali. “Fernando saw his race compromised right from the first lap, the unwitting victim of an accident and then, despite fighting his way up the order, he ended up off the track in the sort of incident that can easily happen in a rain-affected race.”
“Apart from that, and any other considerations, we must recognise that our performance in this Grand Prix did not match our expectations and interrupted a positive trend that began a few races ago: we have to understand why immediately and take the necessary countermeasures.”
“The situation in both championships is certainly more difficult, but it is still not impossible for us to reach our targets: for those with short memories, I remember that three years ago, we found ourselves in a much worse situation and we all know how it went in the end.”
;)
