Felipe Massa has hinted that
Ferrari may have been carrying more fuel than chief rivals McLaren-Mercedes in qualifying for this weekend's German Grand Prix – thereby rendering
Lewis Hamilton's pole position for the Silver Arrows potentially somewhat academic.
The Brazilian had looked odds-on to secure the top spot on the starting grid at Hockenheim, after being the only man to dip below the 1m15s barrier in Q1 and going second-quickest to Hamilton in Q2, but a late flier from the Brit in the dying seconds of Q3 stole his fellow world championship leader's thunder.
Nevertheless, second place is a good position from where to begin a race in which, Massa acknowledges, Ferrari need to prove they have picked themselves up again from the calamities that characterised their
Silverstone performance two weeks ago…
“I am pleased with this result,” the Brazilian affirmed. “Of course you'd always prefer to be on pole position, but all weekend-long we have been trading fastest times during the sessions. In the end our main rivals managed to find a little extra, even if the fuel load is an unknown quantity.
“It will be a very difficult race; our aim is still to win, but it will be important anyway to pick up many points. We must try to get a good start and make the most of what we have.”
Those words were echoed by Maranello's team principal Stefano Domenicali and the
Scuderia's technical director Luca Baldisserri, both of whom remain confident of displaying greater race pace with the scarlet cars, as has invariably been the case thus far in 2008.
“We are satisfied with Felipe's position as he produced a good qualifying performance,” stated Domenicali. “We can count on having a good race pace with both types of tyre, and will have to work with scrupulous attention over the next few hours to prepare for a race that looks like being a very tough one. I am sure both our drivers will give it their best shot and have a great race.”
