Felipe Massa plagued by traffic during Q2

As local hero Fernando Alonso surprised many by qualifying 3rd for his home Grand Prix, team-mate Felipe Massa suffered another dismal qualifying session as the Brazilian only managed 17th place. With question marks over Massa’s seat for 2013, this disappointing qualifying session will only amplify those uncertainties.

On a track which is notoriously difficult to overtake on, Felipe Massa looks set to have a frustrating Spanish Grand Prix tomorrow. The Brazilian driver, who hasn’t won a race since 2008, has had a highly uncompetitive season so far and has only scored two points in the opening four races.

“When qualifying is as close as this, it is vital to manage to have everything fall into place on a clean lap and I never got that chance.” Explained Felipe Massa after qualifying, “On my second run in Q2, I came across at least seven or eight cars that were preparing their tyres for their timed lap and the time I lost definitely cost me dear. It’s a real shame to start seventeenth in a race in which our car has shown it has made a step forward in terms of performance, as could be seen from Fernando’s result.”

With Felipe Massa’s team-mate Fernando Alonso with a great opportunity for a successful result tomorrow, Massa has a lot of drivers’ to pass before he can score any World Championship points.

Follow me on Twitter - @AndyYoungF1