Massa: use of the softer tyres should also help in qualifying

Just a short walk for Felipe Massa from his Monegasque home to the Formula 1 paddock today, where he met the media in the Scuderia Ferrari Media Motorhome. “I think we could have an exciting Monaco race this weekend, because we have seen the effect of the tyres on this season’s racing so far,” began the Brazilian, who regards this as his second home race of the year, after Brazil. “Strategy will be very important and we can expect to see different directions in terms of race strategy to what we are used to in the past. However, given how hard overtaking is here and given the fact that the place where we will be allowed to use DRS is not the easiest part of the track, I do not expect the DRS to have such a significant effect as at the other tracks. Tyre degradation is more likely to be a significant factor in overtaking.”

At the Catalunya circuit on Sunday, Felipe, like many others, struggled to get his car to work on the hard tyres, so the fact Pirelli is bringing two different compounds here is cause for optimism. “I hope we can have a much better weekend than we did at the last race,” said the Brazilian. “The fact we will not have to deal with the hard tyres can be a factor that gives us a chance to fight properly in the race from the beginning to the end. I think the use of the softer tyres should also help in qualifying, so in general, I expect to have a weekend that could be better than Barcelona and also better than some of the other races. The soft and supersoft tyres will be interesting to use in qualifying, because the supersoft will definitely be quicker and here in Monaco, it is still very important to start as near to the front of the grid as possible, therefore we might see people choose the optimum qualifying strategy, rather than save new tyres for the race. But, if you then have to start the race on these tyres. they will not last long, so you have to pit early and then you can come out in traffic. I think we will see different people adopt different directions and hopefully we can pick the right one.”

Finally, the Brazilian was asked about yesterday’s new that Aldo Costa was no longer the Scuderia Technical Director. “The organisational change is the one the team feels is the way we should go and I believe in the team,” he maintained. “I believe this will help us find the right direction, but this change on its own does not mean we are now going to have a great car straight away. Part of the effect of the change will only be seen in the future. We still have the same people working within all the departments, so this change is not destabilising for the team.”