“It looks like Hamilton has wrapped it up, but we will not give up. At least we try to make it more difficult for them by winning these last two races. I have never won in Shanghai, but I have finished second and third there. It is quite normal circuit. Shanghai suits us as well as any other place. Just let's wait and see, how it starts to go there. We push hard until the very finish and on Sunday evening we hope to have the best feelings again.”
With his title hopes now gone, and with the constructors’ title secured, Massa has nothing to lose heading to China and can go all out for victory – although whether or not he is able to go for glory could depend on how the race pans out and whether or not Raikkonen is still in a position to take the title fight down to the last round.
Honda – Jenson Button (#7), Rubens Barrichello (#8):
After another challenging grand prix, this time at the rain-soaked Fuji Speedway, Honda switches its attention to the penultimate race of the season in the hope of adding to its points tally.
Japan turned sour for the team after
Jenson Button's top six grid slot was wasted in a first corner accident with
Nick Heidfeld and Rubens Barrichello was forced to make a late pit-stop that dropped him out of the points, but the squad arrives in Shanghai with its hopes undimmed.
"After such a strong qualifying performance at Fuji on Saturday, we were extremely disappointed that we were unable to convert this into a point-scoring position in the race," senior technical director Shuhei Nakamoto admitted, "But we move to China now and hope for better things at the Shanghai International Circuit.
"This is a very technical track which places great emphasis on driver skill and car stability. Our drivers are looking forward to the challenge. We have some new developments from our recent test in
Jerez and hope that we will be able to end the season on a stronger note and with a point or two."
Both drivers enjoy the Hermann Tilke-penned layout at SIC, although neither was making too many predictions of points this weekend.
"The Shanghai circuit is a demanding one for the drivers, and quite technical, but it is also fun to drive," Button commented, "The length of the corners, particularly turn one which is tough on the neck, is quite something and you have to remember to breathe as you go round the lap. In turns seven, eight and nine, the g-forces are so high that you are unable to breathe."
Barrichello, without a point so far this season, takes another step towards becoming the most experience
F1 driver of all time in China and has fond recollections of the place, having won the very first grand prix there in 2004.
BMW Sauber – Nick Heidfeld (#9), Robert Kubica (#10):
With only Robert Kubica scoring in Japan, after Nick Heidfeld was forced to slow late on, BMW Sauber will be hoping to bounce back to 'best of the rest' form in China.
Remarkably, the team that has pushed
Ferrari and
McLaren closest so far this season has yet to match the twelve-point haul amassed by closest rival
Renault at Fuji, although the turnaround in fortunes has little effect on the constructors' championship, with the German/Swiss team 41 points clear of its French rival.
As a result, the BMW pairing can concentrate on improving their own personal hauls, with both enjoying the Shanghai circuit.
"Turns one, two and three are among my favourite sections on the race calendar," Heidfeld revealed, "You approach the first turn at high speed, go into it flat out, but then the corner increasingly tightens up and you have to shift right down to second. Making a clean exit will be even more interesting next year when we'll be driving without traction control again but, overall, I'm rather fond of this circuit."
