Felipe Massa has described the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend as ‘a very strange race', after the Brazilian inherited a victory that has propelled him to within just two points of the
Formula 1 World Championship lead.
Despite starting up on the front row of the grid, the tricky conditions around the challenging Ardennes circuit did not seem to suit Massa as well as they did his defending world champion
Ferrari team-mate
Kimi Raikkonen or McLaren-Mercedes'
Lewis Hamilton, who left the #2 scarlet machine trailing in their wheeltracks for much of the race, never closer than about four seconds to the leading pair.
Though the 27-year-old – arguably the sport's current in-form driver having consummately dominated proceedings in both Budapest and Valencia in recent weeks – did briefly threaten to join the party following the second round of pit-stops, the late onset of rain and Raikkonen's accident just two laps from home seemed to dissuade his charge somewhat, as he elected instead to settle for a safe second place, just over 14 seconds adrift of on-the-road winner Hamilton at the chequered flag.
“This was a very strange race,” Massa acknowledged after being gifted the tenth win of his
F1 career, “with the start and finish taking place in rather difficult conditions. After the start I thought Eau Rouge might be wetter and so I was a bit cautious. Kimi attacked and managed to get by. From then on I realised it would be hard to pass the two guys ahead of me, even if the lap times were quite similar.
“I tried to manage the situation, especially towards the end. When it started to rain, I had a pretty good margin over my closest pursuers and I preferred not to take any risks, especially given what was going on in front of me.
