Felipe Massa: “It’s the race that counts…”

Felipe Massa says that he doesn’t know why Ferrari has been struggling in qualifying, but emphasies that under 2011 rules race pace is much more important than it was.

The Brazilian had a nightmare weekend in Turkey, starting 10th and finishing 11th after some glitches in the pits.

“It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reason,” said Massa on the Ferrari website on the car’s qualifying pace. “But let’s say it just seems to be a characteristic of the car, because even last year, we had a similar situation. I think qualifying is still important, but much less than before, like in the days when it was almost the most crucial part of the weekend, when overtaking another car during the race was so difficult.

“Even if qualifying is less important, there is nothing disappointing about that, because for the fans, it’s the race that counts as the most important part of the weekend, so the current situation is, in my opinion, good for the sport.”

Massa admitted he was disappointed by the pit stop problems in Turkey.

“As for the pit stop difficulties, I would say I had a few too many, because without them I was definitely heading for a top five finish. This was frustrating for me and for the team. We do a lot of pit stop practice, but that Sunday it just did not work properly.

“We will have to study the problem and try to be more consistent, because in a single stop, just a small delay in changing wheels and you can lose position, as happened to me in Istanbul.

“The pressure on the pit crew is now very great, because not only are they having to be perfect several times during a race, but also since the banning of refuelling, they no longer have that time cushion changing wheels, while waiting for all the fuel to go in. We all have to improve ourselves, drivers included, because our role in the pit-stop operations is very important as well.”