Massa divided between satisfaction and disappointment

Felipe Massa avoided bankruptcy Team Ferrari still missing a great opportunity at the Malaysian Grand Prix with the abandonment of Fernando Alonso. The Sao Paulista saved a fifth place by managing to regain Romain Grosjean at the end of the race with fresher tires after making a difficult start from the first row of the grid. “The race was really very complicated because we started with intermediate tires on a track that was very wet in some areas and completely dry in others. This prevented me from having good speed and I lost ground to a lot of other drivers on the first lap. The first early stop to change to slick tires was a bit of a risky choice because the track was still wet and it cost me time. »

The Ferrari F138 then showed better pace when the track was dry. The retirement of Jenson Button allowed the Brazilian to recover a position before finishing like lightning, passing Romain Grosjean who had more worn tires. “The car made progress when the track was dry, the degradation of the tires was not excessive and I managed to maintain a good pace, but it was already too late to hope for another podium. I can't say I'm happy with this result, but with all the difficulties at the start of the race, I'm happy to bring these points home. »

Felipe Massa is now four points ahead of his teammate Fernando Alonso in the Championship. The Brazilian's performance also allows the Scuderia to stay level with Lotus with 26 points behind Red Bull Racing.

Discover the analysis of the Malaysian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.