Formula 1
Abu Dhabi GP: Felipe Massa preview
Massa: "A really important race" Yas Island, 11 November -- Even though Felipe Massa is out of the race for this year's Drivers' title, he could still play a key role, by taking away points from Fernando Alonso's rivals, which would be a great ...
Published: Nov 12, 2010, 6:38 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Massa: "A really important race"
Yas Island, 11 November -- Even though Felipe Massa is out of the race for this year's Drivers' title, he could still play a key role, by taking away points from Fernando Alonso's rivals, which would be a great help to the Spanish Ferrari man "I hope we are going to have a competitive car to fight in what is going to be a really important race and more than that, finish in the front if possible," Felipe told the media at this afternoon's regular press meeting, held in the Yas Marina paddock. "Before thinking of that, tomorrow, my first task will be to learn the track, because of all the races I missed through my injury last year, Yas Marina was the only brand new track. I did a couple of days on the simulator back in Italy and I have now done some laps here on a bicycle."
Although the Scuderia was criticised after the German Grand Prix, when Massa let Alonso pass him in the final stages which ended with the Spaniard taking the win, now the media is suggesting that if the race order in Abu Dhabi in the final laps is Vettel, Webber, Alonso, then the German would move over, in a carbon copy of the Ferrari move in Hockenheim, for the Australian to take the win and the title, otherwise it goes to the Spaniard. "My personal opinion is that both Red Bull drivers will fight to the end as they both have a chance to be champion," reckoned Felipe. "But if it comes to the closing stages with Sebastian first and Mark second, then I am pretty sure they will swap places, because unless they do this, they are giving away the title to another team. But you need to ask them not me!"
The fact that Felipe is no longer in the hunt for the championship title is down to him having a poor season, with a mixture of some bad luck and misfortune combining with poor qualifying performances. However, when asked about his future, the Brazilian felt the media did not fully understand the situation. "I know what I am able to do and I know I am capable of fighting for a title and for race wins, something I have done many times," he maintained. "The problem with the media's perception is that they only look at the present, never thinking about what happened in the past or what might happen in the future. But I am not bothered about comments from the press. I concentrate on what I am doing and I am sure that if I can fix the big problem I had this year, adapting to the tyres in qualifying as they were very different to the 2009 tyres, then I will be back in fighting form next season. I am very interested to see what next year's tyres will be like, from our new supplier, Pirelli. It is bound to be something very different again." As for sharing the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro garage with Alonso, this is no problem for Massa. "Fernando is a very strong driver, but I have always had strong team-mates, such as Michael and Kimi," said Felipe. "I know how to be in this situation, I know how to deal with a very strong team-mate and I am looking forward to overcoming this year's problems and fighting with him again next season."
On to more off-track subjects and the Ferrari man was asked about his visit to the Ferrari World theme park, which sits alongside the Yas Marina track. "The rollercoaster is fantastic, really great, the best I have ever been on in my life," said Felipe with enthusiasm. "It is different to most usual rollercoasters because it is all about speed and acceleration, which can reach 4.8G in acceleration while hitting 240 kph. In an F1 car, our acceleration reaches around 1.6G and braking is maybe 4.5. The feeling of speed is amazing and everyone who tries it will be impressed. The first time you have a go, it is really impressive and then, if you go a second and third time, the best fun is seeing the expression on the faces of people going for the first time ever! But the whole Ferrari World is great, because there is so much to do including great things like the simulators. It is fantastic for the kids and you can also learn so much about the history of Ferrari."
-source: ferrari
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Cosworth statement on Marussia Motors and Virgin deal
Next article Red Bull young driver test line-up
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Felipe Massa
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Formula 1
Formula 1
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
Formula 1
Formula 1
Las Vegas GP
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
More from
Ferrari
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
20 h
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Latest news
Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry
WEC
WEC WEC 26 min
Belgian firm to take over Renault/Alpine engine facility in Viry
Jorge Martin the slowest Aprilia in Australia practice: “I'm used to riding with the Ducati here”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Jorge Martin the slowest Aprilia in Australia practice: “I'm used to riding with the Ducati here”
2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits
General
Misc General 1 h
2027 Winter Series calendar: Three series across five circuits
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Ducati says Aprilia “can do whatever they want” amid team order talks in MotoGP
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe