Breaking news
Formula 1 Singapore GP
Massa "supporting McLaren" in the Singapore GP
Williams' Felipe Massa says he will be supporting McLaren in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix in the hope it can take points off its Formula 1 rivals in the constructors' championship.
Lawrence Barretto
Edited: Sep 16, 2017, 6:12 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Williams had a tough qualifying session, with Massa and Lance Stroll faster than only the Saubers in 17th and 18th at Marina Bay.
The team is locked in a tight battle of fifth in the constructors' championship, leading Toro Rosso by 15 points, Haas by 20 and Renault by 21.
With McLaren's Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne starting eighth and ninth respectively, Massa is hoping the duo can have a strong afternoon to aid the Williams cause.
"I'm supporting McLaren a lot tomorrow because they can get some points from teams that we are fighting," said Massa.
"Also Force India (Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon start 12th and 14th), if they can get positions tomorrow to finish in front of teams that we are fighting like Toro Rosso and Renault, it's good for us.
"After this race, we need to fight hard with these teams that have a quicker car than us for the moment, in many different tracks.
"We have 21 points to Renault. Renault is a team I'm more afraid. Renault has a better car than us and they have a better car than Toro Rosso as well."
Massa hit the wall hard in Q1 and then suffered oversteer in the penultimate corner on his second run.
"The car was not competitive, I had big oversteer and I hit the wall," he said. "Then I came back, changed the tyres and I was doing a good lap time to pass through Q2.
"I got to the last corner, I had big oversteer, I lost between half a second and seven tenths so my qualifying was not good. The car was really oversteer in the last sector."
Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe believes Massa may have been caught out on his second run by oil on the track from an earlier Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race.
"The car is quicker than the times you saw on the board," said Lowe. "Felipe had a bad afternoon. In Q1 hit the wall. I don't know if he thinks the same, but I guess the oil into Turn 20 might have had some impact.
"He hit the wall very hard. There was some bodywork damage, which had some aerodynamic impact. The lap he was on, we think it would have been a 1m43.3s which is seven tenths quicker and would have put him 13th."
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 Singapore GP: Post-qualifying press conference
Next article Aston Martin set to be Red Bull's title sponsor in 2018
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lawrence Barretto
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sirotkin, Stroll to have two race engineers each
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Formula 1
Formula 1
Hamilton "sacrifice" saved Mercedes an hour of testing
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
Formula 1
Formula 1
Kubica regrets being "too honest" about driving limitations
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
McLaren
Lando Norris laments "very bad job" in qualifying for F1 United States GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Lando Norris laments "very bad job" in qualifying for F1 United States GP
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Latest news
Toyota’s new GR GT3 to make early debut in Japan next month
Super GT
SGT Super GT 8 min
Toyota’s new GR GT3 to make early debut in Japan next month
Max Verstappen pinpoints two recurring Red Bull problems: "We should use sign language!"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
21 min
Max Verstappen pinpoints two recurring Red Bull problems: "We should use sign language!"
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
Fernando Alonso blasts driving standards of bottom half of F1 grid
Yellow line debate divides NASCAR fans after Talladega Cup finish
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
2 h
Yellow line debate divides NASCAR fans after Talladega Cup finish
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