Massa salvages a point for Williams after Stroll's exit

It wasn't the best of races for Williams in Suzuka, with Felipe Massa taking home a solitary point for the team after finishing in tenth place in the Japanese Grand Prix.

"It was a very difficult race for us today," Massa admitted afterwards. "I was struggling with the degradation of the tyres.

"I was struggling with the pace of the car - first set of tyres second set of tyres - definitely a lot," he added. " So I was not happy with my position at the end, because my pace was really not quick enough.

"The other cars had better pace than us today and it’s difficult to understand why."

Massa started the race in eighth place, but dropped to 14th after making his sole pit stop of the day. He gradually recovered his position only to drop two places in quick succession on lap 41 to Haas team mates Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean.

"At the end, I lost positions to both Haas in a move that was a little bit tricky," he complained. Magnussen's challenge had looked particularly robust.

"To be honest I need to see," said Massa when asked about the move. "My right hand side mirror wasn't working so I need to see what happened. I didn't really understand he was there.

"But they were much quicker than me anyway. If they didn’t pass me there, I think they could have passed me afterwards with the pace difference."

Ultimately Massa was choosing the accentuate the weekend's positive aspects for Williams.

"Looking at the problems we had, we still finished in front of Renault and Toro Rosso," he said. "And one point is better than nothing!"

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His rookie team mate Lance Stroll's run of 12 consecutive finishes came to an end this weekend, after a puncture forced him out with seven laps to go.

Even before that, the Canadian's race had been compromised at the start.

"I had a really good start, so I was up to 11th," he recalled. "Then I made a mistake in turn 11 and I hit Magnussen.

"I think damaged something a little bit on the car. I had to box very early [on lap 3] because I thought something was broken or like I had a puncture or whatever.

"Then I had a very long stint on the soft tyre working my way back up, but we were out of the points at that stage.

"I then felt there was something a bit strange at the front end," he added. "The puncture at the end was just unlucky."

"It is always surprising when you get a puncture, as it is very much unexpected and unfortunate at the same time.

"I was very close to Ricciardo when I came back on the circuit, but I managed to brake without anything happening.

"Now we just have to turn the page, as it wasn't a lucky weekend for me, and look forward to Austin."

Williams' chief technical officer Paddy Lowe said that the team was still looking into the incident that forced Stroll out of the race.

"We’ve yet to determine the cause of that incident," he said. "It was a tough race for both drivers.

"Even though it was only one point, it feels like one of the more difficult points we’ve scored. So well done to the team, and to Felipe and Lance, for all they’ve done this weekend."

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