Adrift at Ferrari, Felipe Massa finds the right direction with Williams
Very much in form during free practice, the Williams team have just confirmed their good performance by locking out the front row of the grid. It's the first pole position for Felipe Massa since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix! A surprising return to the forefront for the Brazilian, who seemed to be at the end of his career.
It’s definitely the weekend of comebacks. A return to Austria, which hadn’t hosted a Grand Prix since 2003. And now, a return to glory for both Felipe Massa, who hadn’t secured a pole position since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix, and for Williams, whose last was at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix with Pastor Maldonado.
The little Brazilian is jubilant at the press conference. « It was a great moment. It had been a long time since my last pole position, in Brazil in 2008! » To be honest, no one expected to see him back at such a celebration. Since his serious accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2009 and the weeks he spent in a coma, he seemed to have lost a few tenths per lap. Four years of enduring Fernando Alonso’s dominance at Ferrari also took their toll on him. Easy to say today, but leaving Scuderia might have been the best thing that could happen to him. He only admits it half-heartedly. « Sometimes, changes help. It was positive for motivation. »
The race is tomorrow, but this pole position is already a victory over destiny for Felipe Massa. I hope this is just the beginning of a new beautiful story. What I feel now is as powerful as what a winner might feel.
Now we will have to confirm during the race tomorrow. The task will be even more difficult than securing a pole position. It will depend on the guys at Mercedes, he says, nodding towards Nico Rosberg seated to his left. We will have to drive as well as we can. We have already lost big points in Canada. Tomorrow’s race is another situation: we are starting in a much better position. If he wins, it would be his first triumph since… the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix. So, repeat tomorrow?
From our special correspondent in Austria
