Pushing hard without giving up - Massa

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F1 Grand Prix, GP Belgium, Circuit de Spa-Francorchampsbe

After jokingly apologising to the journalists that he had nothing exciting to tell them about his holiday, as he spent it quietly at home with the family, it was soon business as usual, when Felipe Massa faced the media in a rather damp Spa paddock, for the first time since Sunday in Budapest.

And the first question was blunt and to the point: with seven races to go, had he met the targets he had set himself at the beginning of the year? “No, I have not met the goals I set myself at the start of the season,” was Massa’s honest reply. “Only if you are leading the championship can you say yes. If that had been the case, we could say we need to carry on the same way for the remaining races. But we are not leading either championship, Drivers’ or Constructors’ although we are still pushing hard without giving up at all. Red Bull has been the strongest team so far at every race, winning more races and taking more poles. McLaren has also done a good job, especially in the first half of the season and we are in a situation where it is much easier for us to fight McLaren than Red Bull. Anyway, we are doing everything we can to keep on fighting everyone on track and improving the car, trying to beat all the other cars on track. That has to be our goal for the rest of the season.”

As to the impossible question regarding the Scuderia’s chances of winning the Constructors’ title, Felipe had this to say: “Until you still have a chance mathematically, winning the championship is still a possibility. In practical terms, we have to continue developing the car, especially trying to make it quicker in Qualifying, which is so important for the rest of the weekend.”

And a final word on prospects for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix. “I love this track very much, as do all the drivers I think,” said Felipe. “I am aiming to have a good weekend and a great race, but so many things can happen here, much of it linked to the weather as there is always a chance of rain creating some unusual situation. I hope the modifications we have brought to the car for here, especially the revised diffuser, will bring us some increased downforce.”

Source Ferrari