No one went faster or further than Williams driver Felipe Massa on the first day of the second Formula 1 preseason test in Barcelona on Tuesday, but the veteran Brazilian does not believe his team has the best car.
Massa said after his marathon day, “I don’t think we are on the same level as Mercedes. Mercedes have already shown incredible speed. But if we can fight podiums then that will be a great job. We will see where we are in Australia.”
As for a day in which he completed nearly three grand prix distances, Massa said, “I am so happy for the day, I don’t remember before doing a day with 168 laps in my career. It was a lot of laps and l can feel it a bit on my body, but l am good. I feel in good shape for the new season.”
Last week, at the same venue, Williams lost a day and a half of track time due to teenage rookie Lance Stroll spinning and crashing during his stints in the cockpit.
Massa mused, “I think to be honest, always when you lose a day it’s not great. Maybe something that we’ve did today we could have done last week so it was not possible.”
“But we managed to do a lot more today, we managed to get some good feelings on the car, we managed to see that the car is reliable, which is very important…”
As for his 18 year old teammate, Massa said, “Lance needs to learn, he needs to understand the car and get more mileage. I am trying to pass on everything l can – definitely for the team but also for him – and just trying to make sure he is learning as quick as he can.”
“If he is ready and he is doing a good job then it is for the team and for myself as well, as his teammate,” added Massa.
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
No comments:
Post a Comment