- Hungarian Grand Prix - Qualifying
Massa in awe of Red Bulls
ESPNF1 Staff
July 31, 2010
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Felipe Massa found Ferrari's pace hard to comprehend © Getty Images
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Felipe Massa admitted that Red Bull's dominant performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix had left his Ferrari team with "something to think about".
Sebastian Vettel's pole time was over a second faster than Fernando Alonso's best effort and 1.5 seconds up on Massa. The Brazilian, who will start from fourth on the grid, said Ferrari might be closer in the race but does not expect to have the upper hand.
"When you are gapped by over a second in qualifying, there is always something to think about: the way in which they make their tyres work on the first lap is especially incredible and their aerodynamics help them so much in some corners, especially in changes of direction," he explained. "In the race, the situation can be different, but clearly we cannot claim that we will be quicker on track. However, overall, we have to be pleased with this result because, all the same, we are ahead of everyone else."
He said that his lap had not been perfect and as a result he would suffer by starting on the dirty side of the track, where good traction is harder to come by.
"I did not produce a perfect lap: with these tyres you have to drive extremely precisely because you can easily run the risk of going off the ideal line. The start will be very important and, unfortunately, I am on the dirty side of the grid: let's see what we can do. The race will be very long and as always, anything can happen."
At last year's Hungarian Grand Prix, Massa sustained life-threatening injuries when a spring from Rubens Barrichello's car fractured his skull. However, he said returning to the scene of the accident had not affected his approach to this weekend's race.
"During qualifying, I did not think about it for a moment, as I had too much to do in the car, but now, I can tell you it's a nice feeling being here having completed qualifying," he said. "Today, Professor Robert Veres was in our garage, one of the doctors who looked after me when I was in the AEK hospital and I was very pleased to have him here with me."
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