Felipe Massa says warm weather can make Ferrari more competitive in Monza – Formula 1 news
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa has said that he is hopeful warm weather will make his team more competitive in the upcoming Italian Grand Prix taking place on September 11, 2011 at the Monza racetrack.
Massa added that the cold weather of the 2011 Belgium Grand Prix was not suitable for medium and soft tyres, which were used throughout the race weekend. However, he stated that he is sure if the weather of Monza is hot, they will definitely perform strongly
on the grid during the Grand Prix on the sets of medium and soft compounds by Pirelli.
The Brazilian driver talked to the media and mentioned that Monza is a very important weekend for Ferrari, as they can produce maximum points over there for their best possible end in the 2011 Formula 1 season.
Massa commented, “Like all the teams, we will have a low downforce set-up unique to Monza, with small wings and in free practice you need to make sure the car is well balanced with good traction to pull out of the slow chicanes and that it is able to deal
with jumping the kerbs, which is vital for a quick lap time, especially in qualifying.”
The 30-year-old driver further added that like all the teams, Ferrari need a car with good top speed for the upcoming Monza race.
Apart from that, the Italian squad driver added that it is not difficult to predict at this point that McLaren, Red Bull Racing and Ferrari are the main rivals of the 2011 Formula 1 season.
He went on to mention, “However, Mercedes have shown they have possibly the best top speed on the straight out of all of us and as that is so important at this circuit, they could also have some influence on the final result.”
The team was unable to perform well in Spa due to blistering of tyres. Both of the drivers Massa and Fernando Alonso failed to finish their race on the podium in Belgium following their positive results since the last few races of the ongoing season.
Let’s see how Massa manages his race in Monza this weekend on the sets of medium and soft tyres.
Tags: