Massa: I will never forget that lap!

Sauber driver Felipe Massa was handed the chance of a lifetime at Interlagos, when a good grid position and late stop to change from his intermediate tyres allowed him to lead a lap in his home grand prix.

Going into the Brazilian event, Massa had said that there was nothing quite like racing in front of his countrymen, but he was forced to revise that when Rubens Barrichello peeled off from the head of a Brazilian 1-2 to leave the Sauber at the head of the pack. Massa may only have had one full lap of the Interlagos circuit to savour the experience, but he has vowed never to let the memory slip from his mind.

"It was a fantastic feeling, and I will never forget that lap!" he enthused, "Early on, it was very slippery, but the car was really fast. I lost some ground when Rubens was a bit cautious, but I could catch people really quickly."

Once he made his stop for dry-weather tyres, however, Massa ceased to be a factor at the front. With the Bridgestones taking time to come up to optimum temperature, the Brazilian was left to scrap with Sauber team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella for the final point of the season.

"After we changed tyres and the track dried, it was very hard to find grip until the end of each stint, but I settled into a confident pace and I am satisfied after achieving my goal of scoring a point," Massa commented, "Leading a race in front of my home crowd was the icing on the cake, though!"

Fisichella ended his season with Sauber - he moves to Renault next year - by narrowly missing out on a sixth straight scoring finish. The Italian had a fraught start to the race, and then struggled with similar tyre problems to his team-mate.

"Early on, I was running very close to another car and got caught out," he admitted, "I had to go on to the grass when it braked earlier than I expected. I lost time there, and, after that, we were unlucky with the weather. My strategy was good but the changeable conditions spoiled it, so for me it was a frustrating final race with Sauber."