Too early to get excited about pace - Massa

40

Felipe Massa says it is too early for Williams to be excited about its pace after a strong start to the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend.

While Williams is traditionally lower on the timing screens on a Friday, both Massa and team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished the opening session in the top six and the second session in the top four. However, when asked if it is too early to talk about a possible podium at his final home race, Massa replied: "Definitely it is too early.

"We know that the pace needs to be good [today] and the pace needs to be good on Sunday. So yeah, it is early but it is nice to be competitive like that. It is nice to see your name more on the top, but we have the same car as the last race. So it will not be a very easy weekend.

"But I will try everything I can to have a special [weekend] - and it is already quite special and so many surprises in the car. So for the first time my sponsor and my team changed the name [on the rear wing] and put my name on top of that. It is so great for me and very special. I really hope we have a very good day [today] and Sunday and that it gets even more special for me.

When it was put to Massa that he must be optimistic because Williams is rarely so quick on a Friday, the Brazilian admits it would be special to perform well in Brazil.

"I am always optimistic when I am here in this place. Definitely we will be even more optimistic [in qualifying and the race] and trying everything I can. That is what I am going to do and I really hope if we can be competitive here it will be a great feeling.

"We need to have a great everything to be on the top. Everything needs to be just perfect. The strategy, the qualifying and the race, which we know is not easy, but that is what we are going to try."

FP2 REPORT: 0.030s separate title rivals in FP2 at Interlagos

Silbermann says ... I'm going AWOL

Romain Grosjean column: Time for Haas to raise its game

FEATURE: What Rosberg need to do to win the title in Brazil

INTERVIEW: Fernando Alonso: Why F1 is no longer just for heroes

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

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.