Predicting a tight battle in BarcelonaFelipe Massa is back in action this weekend in Spain, aiming to take his second win of the season and back-to-back wins at Circuit de Catalunya. After a short holiday in Dubai following his Bahrain victory, the Ferrari driver returned
home to Monaco before heading to Spain to test various setups on the F2008.
Ahead of the fourth round of the championship, Massa predicts - like team-mate
Kimi Raikkonen - that it will be a close battle between Ferrari and their immediate rivals.
"As for this weekend and the race in Barcelona, it will be as tough as any other, even if I think we can be very competitive if we do our best at all times," Massa began. "But everything can change quickly, not just from one race to the next, but even in terms of how the car feels at this circuit from last week's test to this week's race weekend. Last year I won here what was, to be honest, an amazing race and for me it is difficult to forget."
Massa took the chequered flag in Spain last year a comfortable seven seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, but the challenge into turn one came from
Fernando Alonso.
"I remember being very very close to Alonso in qualifying and he was in a very determined mood as he was at his home race and in a competitive car," Massa continued. "It was a tough competition between us. I made a very good start and maintained the advantage through the first corner where Alonso tried everything he knew to pass me.
That start was really his only chance to get by because we had a very good strategy. We had a bit of a moment next to one another in the first corner, but I had the inside line and managed to stay in front. I had a very good pace in the race and from then on it was not so difficult to control the pace."
Looking back on his two days of testing in Spain last week, while enjoying his slick-shod run in the modified Ferrari, he reiterated the views of many by questioning the wisdom of banning tyre warmers for the 2009 season.
"At the moment, there is a suggestion that next year, we would not be allowed to use our tyre warmers," Massa stated. "In terms of performance, but also more importantly, safety, the tyres were of course at their best if they had been in the blankets. When I tried them without it was very difficult to drive on the 'out' lap, even though it was not a particularly cold day. So never mind the performance element, I think the blankets are mainly important from the safety point of view."
Source: Ferrari
