Massa confident about Ferrari’s updated version of the blown diffuser
The new diffuser on the Ferrari has boosted Felipe Massa’s hopes for this weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix. After a win at the German Grand Prix and a good performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the team announced this past Monday that they would test the new version of their blown diffuser during Friday’s practice session at the Spa-Francorchamps and decide whether to use the device during qualifying or race.
Massa seemed positive about this weekend and admitted that the order of the front rows will be a tough call.
“Although it was a very quiet holiday, I am fully prepared for this weekend in Spa, as I kept in touch with the engineers, even though they were not working in the factory. We look in good shape, with some new parts coming as part of our constant development programme on the F10,” he said in his blog.
“It [Spa] is high speed, requiring less downforce than at many of the other tracks and fortunately, in the last few races, we showed that we have returned to being very competitive, even better than we had expected. However, it is very hard to predict what could happen, as the small differences between the top teams means that performance has been very much track-specific in terms of who had the slight advantage over the rest. As usual we need to wait and see how free practice goes before knowing what to expect.”
Felipe Massa joined Formula 1 in 2002 after signing with his first team Sauber. Massa pulled of many points during his time in the team, keeping in mind that Sauber was not rated amongst the best teams back then. He stayed in the team for 3 years and left it in the year 2005. The Brazilian scored 4 points in his first season and scored 12 and 11 points in the following years. His best drivers’ standing was a 12th place finish. After his outstanding results, Ferrari offered him a place alongside the legendary Michael Schumacher to replace Rubens Barrichello.
Felipe accepted Ferrari’s offer and joined the team in 2006. This elevated Massa’s career which is why he is still racing for the team till date. He currently has 11 race wins, 31 podiums and 15 pole positions in his record. The Brazilian scored 80, 94, 97, 22 points in the years 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 respectively and finished second in the drivers’ standings in the 2008 season.
Massa faced loads of problems last season after he was involved in one of the most dangerous accidents ever witnessed in Formula 1 history. He was hit in the head by a spring from a rival car going in front of him in the qualifying in the Hungarian Grand Prix and was lucky to survive this dreadful incident. Felipe had to go through serious surgeries as he suffered head injuries but was willing to return to Formula 1 racing in 2010.
This year has not been very successful for the 29-year-old either. In 12 races, Massa has scored only 3 podiums and scored 97 points in the drivers’ standings. He is 44 points behind teammate Fernando Alonso and is 3 points ahead of the German driver Robert Kubica. He is leading the pack after the front-runners of the Championship. Felipe expects to perform at his best at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend.
The Brazilian seems concerned about the run-in to the end of the season as it would be very traumatic for his team but they are already looking forwards. As there are only seven races left in the season, Massa thinks the final part of the year will be really exciting for the viewers and spectators but it will be quite tense for the competitors. Felipe stated that it will not be very difficult for the team or him as they have been in this situation before. Massa believed that Ferrari knew how to deal with pressure. He hopes the team builds up like the way they did before the break and continue the momentum by being competitive and putting themselves back in contention.
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