Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Massa hoping for 'fantastic race' at Spa

Williams F1 driver Felipe Massa says that he's hoping for a 'fantastic race' this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, which he describes as one of the best circuits in the world.

"I’m really looking forward to having a great race at Spa," said Massa in the run-up to the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix this weekend.

"Belgium is one of the best tracks in Formula One. Most of the drivers love the old style, including me.

"It’s always a pleasure to race there and feel the car perform at one of the best tracks in the world."

While the 35-year-old Brazilian has twice finished on the podium in Spa, he hadn't made it into the top three since he won the race in 2008, but that doesn't stop Massa's enthusiasm for the iconic circuit.

"I’ve got great memories from Belgium – I’ve been on the podium and I won there in 2008. It’s definitely a place I always enjoy visiting and a great pleasure to race around."

Spa is known for its erratic weather, and while the forecasts suggest hot conditions leading to storms on Saturday afternoon, the outlook for Sunday's race suggest near-perfect sunny and dry conditions with temperatures around 26C/80F.

However Massa is experienced enough to know that whatever the forecasts, Spa's location deep within the trees of the Ardennes forest invariably results in a wildly inconsistent microclimate across the sprawling 4.352-mile, 20-turn circuit.

"It’s a place that can be wet and dry pretty much at the same time, so I hope it will be a good weekend for us and that we have a fantastic race," agreed Massa.

Chris Medland's 2016 Belgian Grand Prix preview

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.