Massa to start from back of pack.
As if qualifying 16th due to a gearbox failure wasn't bad enough, Felipe Massa's Australian Grand Prix got a little tougher after Ferrari decided that it needed to change the Brazilian's engine before the race.
Massa was prevented from setting a time in the second phase of knock-out qualifying after a gearbox glitch returned to haunt his F2007, and will now line-up alongside the Spyker of Christijan Albers at the back of the field, while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen starts from pole position.
As if qualifying 16th due to a gearbox failure wasn't bad enough, Felipe Massa's Australian Grand Prix got a little tougher after Ferrari decided that it needed to change the Brazilian's engine before the race.
Massa was prevented from setting a time in the second phase of knock-out qualifying after a gearbox glitch returned to haunt his F2007, and will now line-up alongside the Spyker of Christijan Albers at the back of the field, while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen starts from pole position.
The only positive for Massa is that he can dictate his own fuel load for the start of the race - the top ten are prevented from running anything different to their load from the final phase of qualifying - and could opt to run a single-stop strategy where most of the field is expected to stop twice. The only drawback to that scheme, however, is that the Brazilian would have to run a longer stint on the softer option Bridgestone rubber.
