17/09/2014
NEWS STORY
Having leapfrogged Ferrari in the standings at Monza, Felipe Massa says Williams hasn't given up on catching Red Bull
The Brazilian celebrated being retained by the Grove outfit for 2015 with an excellent drive to third in Italy, thereby helping his team move up to third place in the Constructors' Championship.
Whilst most of the remaining tracks on the calendar won't suit the Williams FW36 as much as Monza, Massa believes his team can not only hold off (former employer) Ferrari but even catch Red Bull.
"We're planning to close the gap in every race... to catch even Red Bull which is a bit far, but you'll never know," he told Reuters in Singapore ahead of this weekend's latest instalment of the 2014 championship..
"Everything can change pretty quickly in Formula One in two or three races," he continued. "The situation is different. Maybe we have the opportunity to fight for the second place. I think the work and the job we are doing this year is going very well. So there's still a lot to improve in the second part of the season and also next year."
Admitting that Monza, and Spa, played to the car's strengths, the Brazilian believes the FW36, especially with its Mercedes power unit, can still hold its own this weekend.
"Monza was a fantastic race for us. We managed to finish on the podium, which was great. We finished third and fourth. We managed to pass Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship so going for third place, I think it was a very important race for us. It was fantastic to be back on the podium. I hope we can carry on being back on the podium for most of the races.
"I think it's always a difficult race, a different track," he said of the street track, “not the best track for us. I really expect we can be there, I really expect we can be competitive and I hope we can fight again for the podium.
"The track has a few issues that we have to work around," he admitted, "such as the lack of grip that on a normal track would improve, but here doesn't. This results in a lot of wheel spin and oversteer which affects the balance of the car. The main focus for the team is the constructors' championship now and we have to establish ourselves in third position, which we regained from Ferrari in Monza."