Massa prepping for a 'battle with the bulls'

©WRI2

Felipe Massa enjoyed a productive day at the office after clinching a sixth place position on tomorrow's Russian Grand Prix grid.

The Brazilian was among the 'best of the rest' challengers outside the untouchable top four contenders and thoroughly enjoyed his qualifying battle with the Red Bull boys.

"It was definitely a great qualifying for us, in the middle of two Red Bulls," Massa, told Sky Sports.

"[Williams performance chief] Rob Smedley told me, 'I think you can be in the middle of the Red Bulls', so I said, 'OK, let's try', and he was right – I'm happy with my lap.

"It's just nice to be fighting with a team that was better than us in the first few races, and our long run on Friday was even better than them, so I think we can fight tomorrow."

Massa's Mercedes power may just come in handy tomorrow at the start for the long run down to Turn 2 against the Renault-powered Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

"I'm not on the perfect line, but you never know, maybe if I have a good start the engine definitely helps for Turn 2, and many things can happen there," said Massa.

"Then you pass through Turn 3 and start your race."

"I will try everything I can, I'm very motivated and I hope everything will be right for us to have a good race tomorrow.

GALLERY: F1 drivers' wives and girlfriends

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter