Tough day for Massa at Monza

The Italian Grand Prix weekend got off to a bad start for Felipe Massa. The future retiree of F1 was the victim of problems on his Williams FW38 during the two Friday practice sessions, with a turbo problem in the morning and a brake problem in the second session.

“He lost 50 minutes with the turbo in FP1 and half an hour in FP2 because we had to change the braking system, explained Rob Smedley, Williams' director of performance engineering. We focused on downforce levels to find the right compromise between downforce and drag and we had quite a few answers at the end of the day. Both drivers are comfortable on short and long stints. »

“It wasn't a fantastic Friday for me with the issues I encountered which limited my riding time, confirmed Felipe Massa who finished the second session in 11th position, two tenths behind his teammate Valtteri Bottas. However, I feel very relaxed since I announced my departure yesterday and I can now concentrate on the last eight races of the season. »

“We have a lot of work for tomorrow, but overall it was a good day, explained for his part Valtteri Bottas who ranked eighth in the second session. The gaps are going to be very tight here, but we should have a good week given our performances on the long runs. It's too early to speculate, but we should have some good opportunities this weekend. »

Italian Grand Prix results