Felipe Massa admitted he had peaked too early in qualifying as his chances of closing the gap on Lewis Hamilton were dented as he could only finish fifth in today's session. The Ferrari driver had been quickest in the second part of the one-hour event, but when it came to the final session where the top 10 places are decided he finished four tenths off Hamilton's pole position time.
"I was the quickest man on track but at the wrong moment," admitted Massa. "I never had the right amount of grip from both sets of tyres that I used. "On my first run I was a bit cautious on my 'out' lap and so suffered in the first sector, making a mistake at turn three. On the second run, I did the opposite and found myself without grip at the end of the lap." The Brazilian admitted he had left himself a tough task if he is to make in-roads into Hamilton's seven-point advantage ahead of next weekend's penultimate race of the season in China.
"I've ended up fifth on the grid, which is definitely not an easy place to be," he said. "I will try and work my way up in the race to score big points for the championship. "All the same, the set-up on the car is good and we should be competitive." The start will be vital for today's race and Massa is looking to take inspiration from his excellent getaway at this season's Hungarian Grand Prix where he went from third to first by the end of the first lap.
He said: "The first corner? It's similar to the one at the Hungaroring, so I hope I can manage to repeat the good start I got there." @Email:gcaygill@thenational.ae