Canadian GP - Felipe Massa: "Number one priority to
stay with Ferrari"
Montreal, 22nd June - Against the backdrop of the former
Olympic Rowing Basin, Felipe Massa held his usual Thursday
media meeting "al fresco" as facilities here in
the paddock of the "Gilles Villeneuve" circuit are
very different to those in Europe.
If the environment is different, the questions however are
similar, starting with the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver
asked to assess his season so far. "I think my results
with Ferrari so far this year have been okay, with some good
ones mixed in with some unlucky races too," began the
Brazilian. "I think if you put everything together I
can be happy and for sure I am looking forward to only having
the good results between now and the end of the season."
The press have decided that the angle that needs chasing
this weekend is that Massa's role should be to help team-mate
Schumacher in his quest for the title. Felipe quite naturally
sees the bigger picture: "Everyone's role in the team
is important when you are trying to win," he began. "Everyone,
me, Michael and the team have to do our best, but of course
the guys at Renault are thinking exactly the same thing. Our
objective is obviously to finish as a team ahead of our strongest
rivals and me and Michael are both trying to do exactly that.
We have not managed that in the last two races."
As for the circuit itself, Massa's comments are as follows:
"I think it's very interesting with a long straight but
even so overtaking is not so easy. It's a nice track to race
on, but its not one of my favourites." While it is clear
from these remarks that he does not particularly like this
circuit, Massa is confident that this event along with the
US Grand Prix in one week's time, should see an upturn in
performance from the Scuderia. "I think we will be stronger
here because at the Paul Ricard test last week we ran in low
downforce configuration aimed at suiting circuits where you
need more straight line speed and I was impressed with what
I saw there," he said. "It went very well and I
hope this will give us a car that here in Canada will allow
to get ahead of the Renaults. There are so many positive things
to come out of this test. It was impressive and we were very
strong at Ricard and compared well to the other teams that
were there. I also think we have a good tyre choice for Montreal
and now is the right time with everything in place to get
ahead of the competition."
As the season reaches its halfway point - this race on Sunday
will be number nine of eighteen - the driver rumour market
is in full swing and Massa was asked if he had also been involved
in talks with teams other than the Scuderia. "Of course
my number one priority is to stay with Ferrari, but I have
no need to hide the fact that I have also talked to other
teams," he revealed. "While I think I have a chance
of staying at Ferrari, I also have to see what else is available,
even if I don't want to go into details. For the moment though
I feel I have a strong chance of staying where I am."
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