Formula 1 News: Massa out to win

[<<ELVIS>>]

Massa out to win

Ferrari driver hoping to overturn team-mate's Spa dominance


With Ferrari continuing to insist that they will not be backing Felipe Massa for the World Championship, the Brazilian has made it clear that he wants to beat team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

Despite Raikkonen's failure to win a grand prix since April and his falling 13 points behind Drivers' Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, the Scuderia have made it clear that the defending World Champion still has their support in his efforts to retain the title.

This comes despite the fact that Massa has upped the ante of late and now lies just six points behind McLaren Mercedes star Hamilton after claiming his fourth victory of the season at the recent European Grand Prix in Valencia.

Although he arrives in Belgium with the knowledge that Raikkonen tends to excel at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Massa has said he wants to beat the Finn and reverse the one-two finish the pair scored there 12 months ago.

"I have good memories of last year, when we had a competitive car and the team got a one-two finish," he said. "I hope we can repeat that performance and have a car that is good enough to keep ahead of the McLarens, which of course is our main target at the moment.
"I will also be hoping to be ahead of my team-mate, but Kimi has always been quick at Spa, not just in Formula One, but he was also a winner here in the junior categories and he has won the last three grands prix at this track.

"So for sure, it won't be easy to beat him and I am looking forward to a good battle with my team-mate. The F2008 should be competitive and our aim will be to bring home as many points as possible for the team."

Balance

Massa added that achieving the right balance on his F2008 will be crucial for it to cope with the challenges presented by the sweeping 4.352-mile Ardennes circuit - a favourite with drivers and fans alike.
"Because driving the track is in itself so challenging, you really need a good car to be competitive; one that gives you plenty of downforce for the changes of direction and the many quick corners," he said.

"The car really needs to be very well balanced. If we can put all these elements together from Friday morning through to this coming Sunday afternoon, then I believe we can have a really good weekend in Spa."

[Peter_petrov]

Thanks for the info, Elvis

[parxar]

it depends from the team...we saw on the last race kimi was trying to catch covalinen...he was a litle bit behind him...then massa came out on track(1 pitstop) infront of kimi. kimi forced from team to slow down his speed and no to pass felipe.that was obvious.covalinen made 7 and more sec. distance and when (2nd time) kimi managed to "eat" this distance the team made the mistake on his pitstop...after all those facts imagine kimis' psycology ...finaly his enjine was broken down because he pushed (for third time)his car.in my opinion kimi is a compete and expirienced driver..massa showed a bad face when he was on back place(on another race) ...he acted like he was not in the race.i love ferrari team for me there is no mater if kimi or massa win the championship...i'll be ok if the red car is on the top at last count.