Sunday, July 31, 2011

Damage played on Massa's mind

Felipe Massa says that the damage he sustained when spinning off the track early in the Hungarian Grand Prix played on his mind for the rest of the race.

Massa was just over 10 seconds off the lead when he lost control of his car having run wide in turn two and spun backwards in to the tyre wall. The result was a damaged rear wing, and he admitted that he was worried he may not be able to continue but that he put his trust in the decision made by Rob Smedley, his race engineer.

"It was a difficult race with the rain coming and going," Massa said. "My afternoon was ruined when I went off the track on lap 8. The back end of the car hit the barriers and I was scared the car might be too damaged to continue, but my engineer told me I could keep going. I lost so much time because of that and even if I made some nice passing moves and moved up the order, I am still annoyed at not having been able to fight for a podium finish as I probably could have done."

Massa said that the tricky conditions made for a difficult race, but that he was ready to go away and come back stronger after the mid-season break.

"When it began to rain after lap 40 - but also at the start - the conditions were very difficult: you had to absolutely avoid the white lines because they were extremely slippery and it was like driving on ice. Now we have a bit of a holiday: I will head back to Brazil to be with my family and I always enjoy spending time in my country. I am sure that when I come back to Europe, it will mark the start of a second part of the championship, a better one than the first."

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

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