Formula One news
Seven-place climb for Massa
21 June 2009 / Results / PhotosFelipe Massa completed an impressive drive from eleventh on the grid to fourth at the finish of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The Brazilian driver, who spun five times in the wet last year, made the most of KERS and a well-planned strategy to make the jump on several cars during pit-stops, including the Williams of Nico Rosberg from which he then defended the five-points position.
|
|
With KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) handing Massa a 6.6 second boost of 80 horsepower every lap, both he and team-mate Kimi Räikkönen had the advantage of being the only cars in the field with the new-for-2009 device onboard. "I almost feel as though I won the race!" laughed Massa, who had been left puzzled after qualifying. "To start eleventh and finish fourth is a really great result. We weren't expecting it and so we are doubly happy.
 |
| Both Ferraris use all the road (and then some) at Copse |
"We had a good strategy and I pushed to the maximum at the key moments. Today, the KERS was a great help, especially at the start, but the whole car was also working well. The team did a great job and the results speak for themselves. We have to continue down this route; it will be interesting to understand how the car's performance improved from one day to the next - maybe it just needed those few extra degrees of track temperature to get the tyres working better."
KERS and a slow start by Jarno Trulli also helped Kimi Räikkönen in the other Ferrari, as the 2007 swept up the outside of the grid to move from ninth to fifth after Copse corner. "I got a good start but then I was unable to push as much as I could have done because I was always in traffic," explained the Finn. "Obviously my grid position, given my fuel load, penalised me in terms of strategy. After the first run of pit-stops I found myself right behind Trulli and from then on my race was pretty much over.
"I tried to pass him, getting very close sometimes, but it wasn't really on as overtaking is still very difficult. I ended up fighting with Glock but I could defend my position comfortably, both thanks to the KERS and to the fact that I actually had quite good pace. It's a shame because, given where I was at the end of the first lap, I could have got a better result. A single point is definitely nothing to get excited about, but it's better than nothing. The car wasn't bad today - much better than it had been in qualifying yesterday."
more news
- 07 Nov.
- 06 Nov.
- 05 Nov.
- 04 Nov.
- FIA warns again: Credit crunch will win
- Renault holds emergency meeting about F1 future
- FOTA thanks Toyota's Howett
- Ekström beats Schumacher for Race of Champions
- Hülkenberg targeting Barrichello pace
- Photos: Race of Champions 2009
- Pirelli not interested in F1
- Vettel and Schumacher win ROC Nations Cup
- Toyota highlights reasons for F1 exit
- Official: Toyota leaves Formula One
- An interview with Kamui Koabayshi
- 03 Nov.
- 02 Nov.
Photo gallery
 |
 |
 |
 |
| more pictures | |||
|---|---|---|---|