Massa: There is no news on my future

While the media in today’s FIA press conference were keen to attach Italian roots to Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo and Lotus stand-in driver, Jerome D’Ambrosio, clearly most of the attention centred on the two men sitting side by side in the colours of the Prancing Horse. Felipe Massa was more than happy to be there, after a good Sunday in Spa.

“I am very pleased with the performance of our car in the last race, when it was more competitive than in qualifying, where I struggled a lot especially in Sector 2. With a stronger car in the race, I was able to fight and overtake quick cars as well. I made a very good start, overtaking three or four cars immediately. However, because of the accident, I had to drive right off the track and lost those places and even more. So I had to begin my race again after the Safety Car period. If not for that, maybe I could have been in the fight for the podium.”

However, a good race in Belgium does not mean the Brazilian is jumping to conclusions about a similar performance from the F2012 here in Italy. “Even if it is also high speed, Spa is very different to this track, because there, you also need good downforce, while here the characteristics are different. We must wait and see how the car goes here in Monza and I hope to put on a good race in front of our incredible fans.”

Every Thursday at a Grand Prix, almost since the beginning of the season, Felipe has had to face questions about his future and today was no exception. “There is no news on my future yet and I am just concentrating on the remaining races,” he repeated. “I hope it will not take very long, but for now the most important thing is to get good results.”

The Brazilian was asked if he felt he could beat his team-mate before the end of the season. “Yes!” was the immediate response. “Everywhere we go, I am trying,” before explaining why he felt Saturday afternoon was the key moment of the weekend. “Qualifying is very important to us just to get an easier race. It has not been so great for me this year, even if the races after the first three have gone better. So I am concentrating on qualifying in order to have better races. I had expected to be in a higher position in the championship than I am at the moment and, if I can improve my qualifying and have better races, then I can change the results completely. I have not signed anything yet for next year, but I believe the possibility is there, so I must just wait and see. I don’t know when a decision will be reached.”